Broken Bridges
by RubyRoy87
Summary: Relationships are like bridges. New Bridges need to be built, old bridges need to be repaired... Because broken bridges leave you isolated.
1. Chapter 1

_She gasped for breath. She could hear the blaring TV from next door. A child was wailing at the top of his lungs._

_The midday sun was right overhead and her skin was coated with a shin of perspiration. The exertion of the fight was taking its toll. _

_But she wouldn't give up. She couldn't afford to give up this fight; not when she was fighting for her life._

_She ran as fast as she could across the backyard of her own home, trying to get away from the devil. But she was not fast enough. She was out of her breath soon. She shrieked as a pair of hands grabbed her from behind in a vice grip. She struggled hard, trying to maul her attacker's face but it wasn't effective as she was already on her knees. All she came up with was a chunk of fabric from the devil's garment._

_She wished she had paid attention to those self defense classes in school. She promised to herself that if she made it out alive today, she would be extra sincere in the martial arts classes. _

_Even as she made the promise, she knew it was useless. She wouldn't make it out alive._

_She struggled hard as the merciless fingers closed over her mouth and nostrils. Her eyes bulged, trying to take in the view of the earth for the last time. Gathering every ounce of strength she had, she elbowed her attacker in the stomach. The devil stumbled back with a grunt. She was up on her feet as fast as her asthmatic lungs would permit and started running again. As she reached the bank of the pool, her body failed her. She grabbed the railing and wheezed for breath, unable to think anymore._

_Those cruel pair of hands grabbed her again, this time by her hair and chucked her into the pool, face first. Before she could make her move to the surface, she felt the person grab her ankles from the above the water, not letting her turn upright._

_She held as much air as her fibrotic lungs would allow and twisted and turned in a frantic effort to cheat death. _

_The person above the surface of water sat calmly on the bank, maintaining the tight grip and waiting patiently for her to give up._

_The apparent weightlessness in water acted against her as she tried and failed to gain leverage. In her struggle, her head hit the wall of the pool with a thud. She gasped involuntarily and watched in horror as the first bubble of precious air escaped her mouth. More bubbles soon followed. At last when she could take it no more, she heaved in a futile attempt to breathe and gulped in the chlorinated water. She felt the sting of cold water in her lungs. She knew she was crying but she missed the warmth of her tears as they escaped into the surrounding water. She couldn't believe it. She was dying._

_As the last of her reserve air bubbled out amidst the splash of waves, the killer sighed. It wouldn't take much longer now._

_She probably didn't feel anything anymore. If she did, she wouldn't live to tell others. Convulsions wracked across her body as her oxygen deprived brain made its last protest. Her pupils dilated and her eyes bulged further, not seeing anything. Soon, all the fight left her body and she went limp._

_It was over._

_The killer waited for a few more moments before releasing the grip on the dead girl's ankles. An expressionless pair of eyes took in the sight as her body sank to the bottom of the pool. _

_The loud TV next door blared on. The child kept wailing._

_(…..) _

"Hey, no, pumpkin, listen to me!" Castle stammered into his cell phone.

He closed his eyes as he listened to his daughter's angry voice and sighed. "I know that you're mature. I know you're responsible. It's just that I don't think you should go on a trip with Wilson alone. Why don't you invite a couple of your other friends too?"

He fidgeted for a moment before speaking again, "But you hardly know him. You two have just met." After a moment of listening in, he cut in again, "No, I'm not questioning your choice but honey, you should be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you… No, listen…"

He sighed as he heard the beep indicating that his daughter had just hung up the phone on him.

He flopped dejectedly on the couch of the break room of the 12th Precinct.

After a few minutes, the door opened and the click of four inch high stilettos broke the silence.

Castle didn't look up.

The espresso machine whirred to life and rich aroma filled the stale air of the break room.

Castle kept staring at his cell phone still clutched in his hands.

"Hey Castle, you alright?" The warm comforting voice broke him out of his reverie.

He looked up to see Detective Kate Beckett standing in front of him, offering him a mug of foamy rich coffee. He took it with a grateful smile.

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Liar!" Beckett smiled and sat down beside him on the couch, not too close to be intimate but not too far to be professional. "Rough conversation with Alexis?"

Castle let out a sigh mournfully. "Yes." His voice was small.

"Don't worry, Castle. She's a good girl. She'll understand."

"She just said I meddle too much in her personal life." The usual childish whine in Castle's voice was absent. His voice was slow and tired. After a moment of silence, he continued, "I had this book signing once. Alexis was three at that time. I was sitting there, facing the crowd. She must have been on a sugar rush or really bored or something because she was like a whirlwind inside the bookstore."

Castle paused for a moment, lost in his own memories. Beckett sat beside him, imagining a little cute girl with flaming red hair and large blue eyes rushing through the book store. A small smile crossed her lips. "What happened then?"

"One of the organizers offered to take her for a walk. I was reluctant to let a stranger take her but Gina insisted that I take up on his offer. I agreed. After two hours, I was done but there was still no sign of him or Alexis. Trust me, those were some of the worst moments of my life."

"When did they come back?" It wasn't very difficult picturing Rick Castle as a concerned father. It might have been, four years ago but not anymore.

"Twenty minutes later. Alexis had fallen asleep. But for those twenty minutes, my mind kept conjuring up the most horrible images. I almost had a panic attack. I was so relieved when I held my sleeping baby girl in my arms again." A wistful smile crossed his face. "And now, she's all grown up. I don't like her decisions and she thinks I'm interfering too much. It seems like an ever widening gap has formed between us… The bridge is broken. When did this happen?"

"Hey, nothing is broken. It's natural," Kate reached out and squeezed his hand gently. "She's a barely eighteen, Castle. She's all riled up with hormones. Give her some time. She'll settle down."

"I hope so."

"I'm sure, she will. She's a good kid, Castle."

She smiled at him and he returned it, though it wasn't the wide and cheery smile that she loved.

They heard the desk phone ring.

Beckett stood up instantly and walked off towards her desk.

"Beckett. Yeah, where?" She scribbled down the address. "Okay, we'll be there in twenty."

She replaced the receiver and turned around to find Castle standing behind her.

"We've got a new case… but you may go home if you want to…"

"Let me see, do I want to join you on a case or do I want to languish at home all alone?" He screwed up his face exaggeratedly in mock confusion. "Tough choice but I think I'll choose to be on the case. Thanks for your offer anyway, detective."

Beckett shook her head while trying to suppress her smile. "Okay, Drama Queen. Let's go."

(…)

They parked the crown vic beside the police cruisers and got out of the car.

Castle took a look around. "Houses instead of apartments, spacious and green… Looks like a nice neighborhood."

"Yeah, except for the murder." Beckett muttered before heading to the house.

They stood by the side of the pool. The CSU had already fished the body out of the pool. Dr. Lanie Parish was crouched over the body, engrossed in examination.

"Hey Lanie, what've we got?" Beckett called out to the ME.

"Well, victim in female, Caucasian. Name is Megan Williams. According to her father, she turned sixteen last month." Their heads turned instinctively to the sobbing man standing in the corner, surrounded by Detectives Esposito and Ryan. Lanie continued, "Based on temperature of the water and the body and also the lividity, I'd say she died four to six hours ago. Cause of death appears to be drowning although I can't be sure before I cut her open."

"What about the nature of death?" Beckett inquired.

"Here comes the interesting part. The father said she had asthma since early childhood. As a matter of fact, she needed inhaler today. That is a strict contraindication to swimming and she must have known that."

"So what was she doing in the pool?"

"Exactly. She could've rebelled in a fit of stubbornness and gone swimming. So, this could be accidental…" Lanie trailed off.

"Something in your tone tells me that's not all."

"Yeah, look, I'm not sure but there appears to be a circumferential bruising around her ankles and there is a scalp hematoma at her left parietal eminence."

"Uh, doctor, care to translate in English?" Castle spoke over Beckett's shoulder.

"Well writer-boy, in English, it means there might have been some struggle involved. But as I said earlier, I cannot tell you anything conclusive before I get back to my lab."

Beckett's brow furrowed. "So it might be homicidal. Okay, thanks Lanie. Come on Castle, let's hear what the father has to say."

She walked a few paces before realizing that he wasn't following her. She turned back. Castle was standing there alone, staring at the dead teenager. It was, as if, he was taking in the sight for the first time. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going through his mind. She sighed. _Why did the sensitive cases always hit people at their most vulnerable moment?_

"Hey Castle, are you okay?" The question was redundant because obviously he wasn't okay. But then again, Kate Beckett wasn't exactly an expert of small talk.

"Wha… Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go talk to the father."

With that, Castle strode past her with determination, leaving her behind to follow him. Kate sighed.

_This case was going to be difficult._

_**A/N: You guys have been asking for another mystery for quite some time now… Took me a while to plot the murder. I'm still ironing out the rough edges. Let me see how it goes. Hope you like it… Review, please? I love you guys!**_

_**Disclaimer: Really?**_


	2. Chapter 2

Matt Williams sat on the couch, brushing away his tears with the back of his palm.

Beckett and Castle sat on the other couch, facing him. They were sitting in the brightly lit living room. The walls were lined with bold pieces of art. Castle was sure that it was the work of someone professional… an interior decorator, maybe. It certainly was a well decorated house. It didn't exactly scream money but certainly, the Williams had everything they needed and then some more. The bustling CSU officials in their blue-black jackets looked obscenely out of place.

Castle's eyes fell on a family picture resting on the showcase. A younger Matt smiled back at him, with his grinning wife and laughing daughter by his side.

Matt must have sensed him looking. "That was taken six years ago… Megan was ten. We'd gone to Europe on a vacation." His voice choked with emotions.

"Mr. Williams, I'm very sorry for your loss." Beckett's voice was soft and compassionate. To a casual bystander, it would appear as perfect delivery of a well rehearsed line but Castle knew that she meant every word she said. The look in her eyes must have convinced Matt as well.

He just nodded without saying anything.

Beckett hesitated again, "I know this is very hard for you but we need you to answer a few questions. Do you think you can do it?"

He sighed and nodded again.

"Mr. Williams, where were you this afternoon?"

"At office. I left for work at eight in the morning. I was in there until five. I was on my way home when I… I got the call." Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Can you think about anyone who would want your daughter dead?"

"Why would anyone want her dead? She was a school kid, for God's sake. She was a good kid…"

"What about her friends? Did she have a boyfriend?" Beckett saw Castle stiffen as she asked the question.

"She didn't have many friends, she was kind of introvert… Yeah, there was this boy… what was his name… Jimmy or something, from her school… but I don't know if he was her boyfriend… All of this was more of her mother's territory, you know."

"Was your daughter alone at home?"

"Yeah, she was alone. I didn't want to leave her alone… she had an asthma attack last night. But she was so stubborn… said she didn't want to see me miss work because of her… Only if I hadn't left… Only if I had worked a half-shift…" He started sobbing.

Castle was beside the man in a flash. He placed his hand on his shoulder while he cried. "Hey man, it's not your fault, okay? You were just doing your job. You couldn't have known…"

After a few minutes, the man could control his emotions again.

"Where's her mother?"

"She is in LA. She was supposed to leave for the airport around ten. Her flight was at midday. She'll return day after tomorrow."

"Haven't you told her yet?"

"No, there's no way I can reach her."

Both Castle and Beckett did a double take at Matt's confession. "Why not?"

Matt sighed in exasperation. "You don't understand, detective. Melanie has a stressful job. She owns her own designer company and she has to work like hell to keep it afloat. Sometimes the stress gets to her. She needs a break from work, from family, from everything… She switches off her phone, doesn't answer emails… She just falls off the face of the earth."

"But," Castle countered, "There has to be a way of communicating with her, in cases of emergency." _Like when your husband tries to give you the news of your daughter's murder._

"No. There isn't. We've even fought about it at times, especially when Megan was a kid… But she felt that I am capable of handling any emergency. You'd think that's a very satisfying compliment, right? The truth is it's so terrifying… And now… and now, my daughter is dead… on my watch… what am I supposed to say? Oh God, what am I supposed to do?" Matt broke down completely.

Castle tried to comfort him as best as he could. Being a single father, he knew the man's problems. Yes, Matt wasn't a single father but handling an asthmatic teenage daughter all by himself and trying to balance it with office hours? That was a special brand of hell for any caring father.

"This is distressing you. I think we're done for now. We'll do everything we can to catch the killer, I promise you." With that Beckett got up and walked away to talk with the CSU officials, giving the two fathers some time alone.

(…)

Beckett was standing in the victim's bedroom when Ryan and Esposito walked up to her.

"Hey guys, find anything useful?"

"Nothing in the preliminaries… Her computer is password protected so we'll need a techie to log in. The CSU is searching for additional evidence." Ryan shrugged helplessly.

Kate took in the room briefly before walking to the window. She could see the swimming pool below as well as the house on the other side of the fence. "Didn't the neighbors hear anything?"

"Nope, the neighbors next door, the…" Esposito paused to consult his notes, "the Griffins, are currently in France. The other neighbors, the Hewitts, were not at home during the time of the murder. There was the kid with his nanny. His nanny had fallen asleep with the TV blaring… in fact, I had to send a uniform to knock on their door and ask her to turn the volume down."

"Who found the body?"

"The boys in the park…" Ryan pointed out to the distant patch of green visible through the window. "Someone knocked the ball out of the park and one of the boys hopped over the fence to get it, saw the body floating and ran out screaming. Then someone called 911."

Beckett sighed in exasperation. "This whole thing is so sketchy…" She turned around and paused abruptly as she took in the sight before her. "Boys, tell me what's wrong with the picture?"

The two detectives scrutinized the scene in front of them yet again. They came up with nothing and shifted their questioning gaze to their boss instead.

Kate waited for a moment and raised one of her eyebrows playfully, "What, nothing?" When she got no reaction, she jumped straight to the point, "Guys, the bed is unmade."

"Yeah, so? Megan was a teenager, what did you expect?" Esposito countered.

"Espo, look around you… I'm almost tempted to say this girl had OCD…" she walked up to the bookcase, "Not a single book is out of the row, not a single stray paper on the floor. All her notebooks are neatly arranged on her table. Did your room look so clean when you were a teenager?"

"When I was a teenager? You don't want to know," Castle walked into the room.

"Glad that you could re-join us, bro." Ryan said with a dramatic flourish.

"The pleasure is all mine, Detectives," Castle replied with even more drama. "So, Beckett, what've we got?"

"A spectacularly arranged room with a disheveled bed." She answered wryly.

"Maybe she slept in…"

"Hmm… Or maybe…" her eyebrows were furrowed together in thought, "Esposito, give me the blue light."

The Hispanic detective didn't take more than a second to hand over the torch to his boss. Kate leaned over the bed and shone the black light over the rumpled sheets. "She had sex, on this bed."

"But she's only sixteen…" Castle protested. The three detectives turned to look at him incredulously.

"Newsflash, bro… Teenagers have sex. And I'm sure you knew that."

"Yeah, but…" Castle trailed off. Of course he knew teenagers had sex. He didn't need to 'research' to know the facts. He had his fair share of adventures when he was a teenager. Then why did he feel weird thinking about this girl having sex in her own bedroom? Somehow the idea grossed him out. Deep down within him, he knew the reason but his conscious mind refused to acknowledge.

"Castle, it looks that way. We cannot be sure until these get tested in the lab." Kate almost looked apologetic.

Castle stared at her. An uncomfortable silence descended. It was broken when a CSU officer called out from the adjoining bathroom. "Detectives, we've found something." The four of them walked into the bathroom. The officer was standing near the trashcan putting something inside the evidence bag.

"What did you find?" Beckett inquired.

"A used condom."

Beckett saw Castle flinch through the corner of her eye. "Okay, so we have DNA evidence. Good work, officer." She smiled at the man before heading out. Once in the hallway, she turned to the boys, "I think we're done here. Castle and I will head to the precinct. You guys talk to her friends and find out who this Jimmy was. I'm betting that condom bears his DNA."

(…)

They were sitting in her car outside the 12th.

"Hey Castle, you okay? This case must be hard for you."

Castle sighed. "I'm thinking about Matt. What kind of a mother goes off to LA _incommunicado_ to _'blow off steam'_ knowing her daughter had an asthma attack less than twelve hours ago? Why do these women never assume responsibility? They are mothers, for God's sake."

Kate had never seen him so worked up about anything. It was almost heartbreaking. His blue eyes bore pain. The case had hit him hard and in ways more than one.

"Castle, Megan is not Alexis." She knew that it wasn't the most sensitive thing to say but she needed to stop Castle before he took the case too personally. Not only was it unprofessional (when was Castle a professional, anyway?) but it was dangerous for him. Beckett had the experience. She knew. She couldn't let Castle walk down the same dark alley of self decay.

"I know, Beckett. I know. It's just too painful. There is no resemblance between Alexis and this girl but you know what? They're not very different. This girl is almost two years younger than Alexis and sick… Her mother is too busy with her job and fun, her father is alone and clueless. She has the whole house empty, all to herself. She has sex in her own bedroom and within hours, she's dead; presumably murdered. It could be Alexis, any time, any moment. I don't know how I managed to remain lucky until now." His voice was shaking with emotions.

"Castle, it has got nothing to do with your luck. She's a good kid, that's all. She is very mature. She knows what to do…"

"Does she?" He was getting agitated. "My baby daughter wants to go 'on a trip' with a man she's met two weeks ago. Yes Kate, a man. He is seven years older than her. They are going _alone._ Can you tell me she's doing the right thing? Is this a very mature thing to do?"

"Hey, hey, Castle… Rick… calm down, okay? Do you want me to run a background check on this guy?" Her voice was tentative. Watching Castle in agony was… well, agonizing.

Castle took in a deep breath. Kate, Detective Kate Beckett, had just offered to use her official position for unofficial purposes. It was like watching the sun rise in the west. He must've reacted really badly. He ran his hand across his face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have reacted like this. It's just that I've no idea how to handle my daughter. I'm totally clueless and it's scaring me... Anyway, I'm sorry... let's go."

"Castle, maybe you should sit this one out…"

"Beckett, I promised a father that we'll catch his daughter's killer. I'm not going to rest until I make good of my promise."

"Okay then, let's go." She reached out and held his hand just as he was going to open the door of the car. She waited until he turned back and looked into her eyes.

"Castle, we'll get this guy."

_**A/N: Okay guys, so let me confess something… I'm horribly blocked. Yeah, the above chapter took me two days to write, those of you who've read my earlier stories know that I write much faster. However, I'll keep writing. I have the outline of the story ready, so I'll struggle and stumble but I'll not abandon this story. I hope you'll keep reading. It's very important, specially now. I hope you'll not abandon me :(**_

_**Also, response to the first chapter was rather disheartening. 552 people read it in the first 11 hours. Do you know what the count in "Demons" was? 1.28K at the end of 11.5 hours. So yeah, I'm disappointed. Anyway, I'm trying to keep doing my job.**_

_**I want to thank **__Ariel119, Sophiadelancy, tiff098765, crazy4castle __**and **__Lauren Pannell __**for reviewing. You guys rock hardcore! ;) Also, thanks to everyone who added the story to alerts. I love you all.**_

_**P.S: Note to teenagers- "Teenagers have sex" in this story doesn't mean it is cool to have underage sex or it's ideal to have underage sex. I'm not planting any idea in your head (Do I really need to put ideas in your head? Some of you could probably teach me a thing or two :/) **_

_**Disclaimer: No, Mr. Marlowe isn't facing writer's block… I am.**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Lanie, you wanted to see us?"

"Yes. I just completed the autopsy on this girl… and found a couple of interesting things."

"Like?"

"Firstly, the girl did have sex within an hour before her death… and by the looks of it, it was consensual."

"Okay…" Beckett waited.

"Secondly, the girl put up a good fight with the killer. There are scratch marks all over her forearms and back. And I was right about the bruising around her ankles. It is indeed homicidal drowning. The scalp hematoma suggests she hit her head during the struggle but it wasn't enough to cause death. She died from suffocation."

"That's a painful way to go," Castle's voice was almost a whisper.

Lanie and Kate exchanged concerned glances. Lanie cleared her throat, "From the degree of bruising, it appears that the killer is someone strong."

Kate nodded, "What about the tox results?"

"I found three drugs in her system. Salmeterol, Theophylline and Dexamethasone. That's your standard prescription for asthma. Other than that, she's clean."

"How did she have sex when she couldn't breathe?" Castle's voice was laced with curiosity and concern at the same time.

"She was a chronic asthmatic. She was on the drugs… She had received a bolus dose last night. She must have been on maintenance doses in the morning. I think her body just found a way to cope. It happens in some cases."

"So an average introvert asthmatic teenager obsessed with cleanliness and with no history of drugs or alcohol abuse has sex and then is found murdered. This doesn't make sense… Unless it was the boy she had sex with." Castle theorized.

"Well, there is one more thing I found. There was a chunk of fabric embedded under her nails. It could be from the killer's shirt or sweater. We're processing it to see if it leads us anywhere but it'll take some time."

"Take your time, Lanie. Let us know when you're done. Castle, let's go."

(…..)

"Even if the boyfriend is the murderer, what's his motive?" Beckett had a frown on her face.

"Well, they had sex."

The detective and the writer were sitting in front of the murder board. The white board was too empty for their liking. They had gathered only a handful of information about the victim. Apparently, the girl was close only to her mother who had decided to 'disappear' at the worst moment.

"That's not a motive, Castle."

"Maybe he's a psychopath." Castle leaned back on his chair.

"Jimmy Symonds doesn't have a record."

"There's always a first time."

Beckett hesitated. Castle was intent on proving that the boyfriend was the killer. It didn't take a genius to figure out why.

"Yo, Beckett," Esposito called out as he entered the bullpen. "Picked up Jimmy. He's in interrogation 1. We talked to her other friends too."

"What did they say?"

"Well, first of all, she wasn't a very social person. She had only a couple of friends… and the boyfriend. All of them were in class during the time of the murder. Except one. Guess who?" Ryan paused for effect.

"Jimmy Symonds."

(….)

"Jimmy, are you aware why you're here?"

"No, ma'am" the boy gulped. He looked like an average pimply teenager. He was pale white with cropped golden hair. He was of medium height and quite lean. The jacket he was wearing appeared too big for his size. He looked scared and Beckett could bet all of her money and say that his knees were shaking under the table.

"What was your relationship with Megan Williams?"

Jimmy was quiet for a moment. He seemed to be composing himself. "She was my girlfriend."

"Do you know that she's dead?"

He was now pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yes, I heard."

Castle leaned forward on the table, "You heard? Where? On the radio? Or was it the CNN?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"No… no… I heard from my friends. They… they texted me when cops showed up at their door."

Beckett sat back and considered the kid with round, pimply face in front of her. He didn't look like a killer but she could never be sure. "How long have the two of you been dating?"

"A year."

"Tell me, Jimmy. Where were you between 11 am and 2 pm? Don't say school because we know you were not there."

Jimmy hesitated.

"Uh, he was busy murdering his girlfriend." Castle supplied.

"What? No… No… Why would I murder Meg? I loved her!" His wide eyes were now brimming with tears.

"Then where were you, Jimmy? Tell us the truth. You want us to find the person who killed your girlfriend, don't you?"

He nodded and the tears spilled onto his cheeks. "I was with her… from ten-thirty five to eleven-fifteen."

"Tell us everything."

"I left home for school at ten… went to visit Megan. She was sick last night, you know. We talked. She wanted me to stay with her and I did. We… we… got a little intimate…"

"Yeah, we know. We found the condom." Beckett watched as the boy's cheeks turned beet red. She was torn between amusement and pity. "What happened next?"

"We heard a loud crashed downstairs… and her mother's voice. Meg wanted me to leave. So, I left… through the window." He hung his head low.

"Is that everything? Are you sure you're not leaving anything out?"

"No… That's the last time I saw her… I'll never see her again." He stared vacantly at the steel table in front of him.

"Jimmy, where did you go after that?"

"I went to the library. I was there until four."

"We'll need to corroborate that."

The boy looked drained. He just nodded.

"Do you know of anyone who could've killed her? Did she have any enemies?"

"No… she was a very nice girl. She didn't have any enemies… Although…" He trailed off and looked at Beckett.

"Although what?"

"There's a girl in the senior class. Her name's Tess. She used to bully Meg… but I don't think she's capable of killing anyone." His voice was unsure, though.

"Okay Jimmy, we need to know everything about this girl…"

(…..)

"I can't believe you're letting him go." Castle's voice was loud. They were in the break room. Beckett was fiddling with the espresso machine.

"Castle, he has alibied out. He was really at the library the whole time."

"Well, he could've killed her and then gone to the library."

"He left his home at ten. Mrs. Hewitt has seen a boy matching his description enter the house when she was leaving for her office at ten thirty. Then we've the condom and the library records… In fact, he logged into his facebook account on the library computer. So we've IP records with time stamps. And honestly, Castle, does he look like a killer to you?"

Castle huffed in impatience and flopped down on the couch. "Okay then… what about the bully?"

"Ryan is looking into Megan's computer now. We want to call in Tess only after we've some evidence. We're sure she'll lawyer up the moment we summon her to the precinct, so, we need some leverage."

"Okay," Castle sighed and closed his eyes. "This was our only lead, the only thing that made sense…"

"Castle, there's nothing we can do now. I think you should go home. We'll come back tomorrow with fresh eyes."

"Are you going home too?"

Kate was taken aback by the question. Of course, she wasn't about to go home. She had planned to sit in front of the murder board, coaxing and cajoling her brain to figure out the invisible links and connections that would lead her straight to the murderer. It never happened that way, really. But, she always tried it. "Umm… no… I'm going to stay a bit longer."

"Then I'm staying as well."

"Castle, I'll be doing paperwork."

"Then I'll watch, I've done that before… Hell, I'll do paperwork. You're always complaining that I don't do paperwork…" he continued nervously.

Kate abandoned the coffee machine and walked up to Castle. She sat down beside him, her eyes never leaving his face. She saw despair, fear and loneliness etched on his handsome face. His blue eyes were sad and insecure. She was concerned. "Why aren't you going home, Rick? What are you hiding from?"

"Nothing… Nothing…" He started denying but he didn't have the heart to carry on. He fell silent. His eyes were firmly fixed on the ground. After what seemed to be a very long time, he looked up and saw her watching him intently. Her hazel eyes were soft and questioning. They invited him to share his pain with her. He took in a deep breath loudly. "You know, going back to the empty loft scares me… Mother is in LA with the rest of the people from her acting school. Alexis is out with her friends, God knows where… If I ask her about it, she'll think I'm meddling in her affairs. Yes, she still returns home by midnight but… every moment I spend alone in the loft, I feel scared… Like time is running out, you know… My mother has already booked her own place, my daughter will leave home soon… I'm getting old. I feel tired. The ghostly silence in my loft creeps me out these days." He suddenly remembered his surroundings. He stopped himself before he could say anything else. He looked at Beckett. Her eyes appeared suspiciously shiny but then, it was probably the dim light of the break room playing tricks on him.

Kate was overwhelmed with emotions. She knew the fear, the pain of going back to an empty apartment. She knew how it felt to be stuck while the whole world rushed by. She was familiar with loneliness. It was the reason why she had started pulling off all nighters in the first place. But she never thought Castle could feel the same too. Castle was like a force of nature. Castle was like sunshine. He was like breeze. He was always brimming with joy and happiness and he infected others with his special brand of enthusiasm wherever he went. She was stupid. Of course, he felt pain and sadness… He was human as well. He was a good father, a good son, a good… partner; a good man, in general. He tried to remain upbeat. His humor was his own version of Kate's wall. Only, it didn't restrict him. It colored his personality. But, just like Kate, his wall had cracks too… and just like her, he was vulnerable.

"I'm sorry, Beckett. I didn't want to unload everything on you… I… just… I just want to stay here for some more time, if you don't mind…" He trailed off. Beckett's silence was unsettling him. His voice was subdued and unsure.

"Actually, Castle, I've a better idea." Kate had made up her mind. _She did owe the man about a hundred coffees. _"Why don't we ditch the paperwork today and catch the comfort food truck? My treat."

Castle looked up at her with hopeful eyes, a gesture that made her heart soar and ache at the same time. "Really?" Beckett nodded. He smiled, "Mac and cheese? Hot chocolate? Why not?"

Kate smiled at him. "Come on, Castle. Let's go."

They strode across the bullpen and after picking up their jackets, walked to the elevator.

The door closed with a ding. They stood there, side by side, in comfortable silence. Kate turned to face Castle when she felt his eyes on her and raised her own eyebrows questioningly.

Castle smiled. "Thank you." He didn't need to elaborate. He was sure that Beckett… Kate… would understand.

He was right. A shy but genuine smile spread across her lips. "Always."

_**A/N: Hmm… What do you think? I fell asleep while editing this chapter last night... So, if you find errors, please excuse them.**_

_**How awesome was "Kill Shot"? In the last scene, when Kate was on her shrink's couch and she said, "I want to be more than who I am… but I don't know how to do so without letting my mother down" (not exact quote), she looked so small and vulnerable, like a lost kid (and maybe it hit me at my own sore spot) … It was painful to watch. **_

_**The whole episode was pretty intense and there were so many 'moments' but this one scene will haunt me for a long time…**_

_**Also, Castle said "Always" again! Like my promo based fanfic! (Well, that's a coincidence, duh! And the scenario isn't the same) **_

_**How awesome is Stana Katic? Super-freaking-awesome, right? **_

_**Beckett's ready! Beckett's ready! Now, I really have high hopes for "Cuffed"! (Not that they're going to have sex or something but a bit of pure, unadulterated Caskett fluff would be great. Terri Miller co-wrote the script… so, there's bound to be some fluff!)**_

_**Disclaimer: Seriously, you don't expect the above rant from the owners of Castle, do you? **_


	4. Chapter 4

"Castle, are you trying to stuff me with food?" She was glaring at the man who had stood up to order yet another chilli cheese hot dog for each of them.

"Detective, there's no harm in stuffing yourself with good food."

"There is," she yanked Castle by his arm and he stumbled back. "Do you realize how many hours I'll have to work out tomorrow to burn off the calories?"

"Well, I can certainly suggest ways you could burn off the calories…" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Beckett narrowed her eyes at him, "Say one more word and you're returning home in a coffin."

"Okay, okay," Castle raised his hands in surrender before flopping back down on the bench. "Can't believe a homicide detective threatens to kill me everyday… Geez!"

Kate's lips threatened to curl up in a smile at the man-child's antics. She fought to keep the smile invisible but after a few seconds, she gave up.

Soon, they fell into a companionable silence as they sat side by side and watched the busy street in front of them. The air had become cooler. Before they realized it, they had closed in the distance between them and were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"What are you thinking, Kate?" His voice was soft.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He didn't believe her.

"It's true, Castle. I'm not thinking anything… just remembering…"

"Care to share?" He smiled.

"You know, when I was a kid, about five or six, I had terrible food fad. I wouldn't touch anything green. I was repulsed by the sight of vegetables." She heard him chuckling but continued to stare ahead. "My parents tried everything they could think of to make me eat vegetables. They tried to cook tastier dishes, they even tried to trick me into eating them. Every time, I'd get a clue… and it made me more determined not to touch the food…"

"Why am I not surprised, Detective Beckett? No, scratch that, I am surprised that someone actually hoped to successfully trick you…"

Kate smiled this time. "Yeah, when that failed, they resorted to bribing… That's how my eating out from the food trucks started."

"My, my, you were quite a handful, Detective."

"Well, Castle, I wasn't a detective back then." He could hear the amusement in her voice.

"True but even back then, the extraordinary brain resided inside that pretty head of yours."

She rolled her eyes even though she wasn't sure if Castle could see that in the poor lighting. She debated for a moment if she should say what she wanted to say next. She wasn't sure if she should open up to him that much. She always preferred to keep things buried deep inside her. Even before her mother's death, she was not exactly the sharing type. Opening up to someone was not something she was comfortable with. But somehow, Castle had never waited for her to open the doors. He had always preferred to barge into the crevices of her consciousness. Yes, there were still dark, meandering lanes and by-lanes where he hadn't reached yet. There were boxes which he was yet to open; boxes far more sinister than the Pandora's box. But he would lay his hands on them eventually. He would reach that place inside her someday where no human had ever reached before. He had already touched the essence of her being. Someday, he would touch the core of her existence. She was sure of that.

So, why was she being ridiculous about sharing a tiny bit of fact from him? Maybe because the apparently unimportant sentence would bear testimony to the fact that he meant a lot to her… Castle was always very perceptive when it came to subtexts and hidden meanings.

But then again, wasn't her therapist encouraging her to open up a little?

"You know Castle, after my mom's death, I've always grabbed food from truck alone… I've never let anyone accompany me. I know it sounds stupid but…"

"It's not stupid. It was a special bond between the two of you… Only the two of you."

"Well, not anymore. This is the second time we grabbed street food together." She gestured towards herself and Castle.

"Yeah…" He trailed off, as if trying to determine if that's a good thing. "Is that okay with you?"

"I did ask you to come with me, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." There was an odd satisfaction in his voice but no smugness. Castle had understood. Of course he would…

She felt his breath on her shoulders and turned to face him. She was almost startled to find him unexpectedly close. She could now feel his warm breath on her face… The warmth buzzed her insides, like a pleasant vibration. It didn't shake anything inside her violently, nor did jolts of electricity pass through her body. It was soft. She felt satisfied and hungry at the same time. She could stay here like this for the rest of her life yet she ached for more. She needed him.

_Yes, she needed him._

The thought was like an epiphany to her. She did need him… as a partner, as a friend but also as something more… For the first time in a very long time, she wanted to let go of her secretive self. For quite some time now, her shields didn't protect her anymore, they burdened her. She wanted to drop the armor for once. She wanted to stand in front of him, naked and vulnerable. She wanted him to see her for who she really was. Then, he could decide if he wanted her as much as he thought he wanted her. She had always been afraid that they would lose whatever they had in the quest for something more… But over the years, they had crossed that threshold in their relationship. They had braved the rough weather together. They had battled together and they had conquered the odds. They were already in love. Loving this man wouldn't be a transformation of their relationship, it would be a transition. Like evolution of species, it was the only course of natural progression of their relationship. Without the progression, their relationship wouldn't survive anyway. Whatever they had between them could only move forward.

As the realization dawned on her, she was overcome with a myriad of emotions. She shivered.

"You're cold," he observed quietly, tearing through the shroud of her thoughts.

She knew that she hadn't shivered because of the cold but she noticed that the air around them had got chilly. It was getting late.

"Want some hot chocolate?"

"No, I was thinking wine... back at the apartment."

Castle's face fell. The evening was about to end. It wasn't about not wanting to face his empty loft anymore. It was about her. Katherine Beckett's presence gave him peace. The warmth of her body gave him comfort. Her subtle cherry scent calmed him. Her honey-green eyes hypnotized him. Her gorgeous smile brightened his life. Her beautiful face pleased his eyes. Her rich voice put him in a trance. She soothed his soul.

"What are you thinking, Castle?" Her voice was soft and smooth, like leaves moistened with dew.

Of course he wouldn't tell her what he was thinking. If he said even half of what he was thinking, he would appear too clingy. He would creep her out and she would probably run away, screaming. No, he wouldn't rush her… He would let her work out the pace. He didn't mind if they crept their way to the finishing line… There was no finishing line for them anyway. Their relationship was a journey and if, or rather when, they decided to label their relationship, it would just be a change of terrain for them. It would still remain a journey.

Not wanting to share his thoughts, he decided to settle for the immediate truth; the truth that propagated his thoughts in the first place. "I don't want the evening to end."

"It doesn't have to. You could join me, you know. Of course if you don't want to, I'll understand…"

"Kate…"

"… I mean it is late and probably you're tired…"

"Kate!" He said loudly, cutting off her rambling. He was amused. Detective Beckett was nervous! Castle could remember the many times he had to gather the courage to ask her out to the Remy's for a couple of goddamn burgers. This was like a role-reversal. He eyed Kate who was now biting on her lower lip anxiously, as if waiting for a rejection. The woman had no idea what she did to him. "Kate, I'd love to join you for wine."

Her face broke into a radiant smile.

(…)

They sat on the couch, listening to the silence in her apartment.

Kate felt pleasantly buzzed. The warmth was spreading through her body and she wasn't sure if it was due to the wine or the man sitting beside her. The alcohol coursing through her system was at the right level. It hadn't dampened the frontal cortex of her brain and her cognitive abilities were still intact. What wasn't intact was the wall around her heart. Warmth was seeping into her soul through the cracks on the wall like sunshine through the defects in boarded up windows. It felt… nice.

"Hey Castle, want me to put on the radio?"

Castle stared at her intensely and suddenly she felt self conscious.

"Who are you and what have you done with Kate Beckett?"

"Come on, Castle. I just want to turn on the radio. Is it that out of character for me?"

"No… It's just that… You… I…" Suddenly, he didn't know what to say. The light had fallen on her face at an angle which gave her an eerie glow. She looked beautiful. Of course she was always beautiful but at the moment she looked… heavenly? Divine? Breathtaking? No word he came up with seemed to do her justice. For a man who made his living with words, it should've been frustrating but it wasn't… because as a wordsmith, he was well aware of the failure of languages. There were some things in life that that couldn't be limited to twenty six letters… Like the enormity of a stormy sea, like the vastness of a star studded night sky, like the mystery of Katherine Beckett. It intrigued him, it mesmerized him. It drew him in and intoxicated him. It stripped the writer off his ability to form coherent sentences. He hoped his eyes could convey the message that his words couldn't.

Before she could get carried away by the strong wave of emotions emanating from him, Kate stood up and walked to the radio. After fiddling with it, she settled on a station that was playing old music.

For the next thirty minutes, they sat there, listening to the songs from the days bygone. Each song held memories for both of them and they reminisced together the happy and sad times…

Soon they came across a random song and Kate spoke up, "Ah, I used to dance to this song with my friends from school. It was fun!"

"Yeah… It came out in '93. I remember because that was the year Alexis was born…" Suddenly he grimaced.

"What?"

"I was just thinking, you were in school when I had Alexis." He made a sour face.

Kate laughed. "So?"

"Makes me feel kind of old…"

"Kind of?" Kate raised her eyebrows. She loved teasing Rick Castle.

"Yeah, you know, oldish."

"Oldish? Is that even a word?"

"Yeah, I mean…"

"Come on, Rick. You're old. Admit it."

"I'm not that old, you know." He pouted.

"You're old enough." She smirked.

"Well, detective, I'll have you know that like good wine, I age well."

"Yeah, right. Isn't that what everyone says?" She was having fun. Castle could be so easy at times.

He opened his mouth to reply but she interrupted him. "Shh, Castle. Listen to this. This was my favorite song in school. Can't believe I'd forgotten all about it."

Castle immediately stopped to listen. It was "What I Got" by Sublime. As the song started, Kate hummed along.

_Early in the morning, risin' to the street_

_Light me up that cigarette and I strap shoes on my feet_

_Got to find a reason, a reason things went wrong_

_Got to find a reason why my money's all gone_

_I got a dalmatian, and I can still get high_

_I can play the guitar like a mother ****ing riot_

She stopped abruptly when the song reached its second stanza.

_Well, life is too short, so love the one you got_

_'Cause you might get run over or you might get shot_

_Never had to battle with no bulletproof vest_

_Never start static I just get it off my chest…_

They stared at each other. Her hazel eyes peered into his baby blue and she saw in there the exact emotions that were swelling inside her chest. The words of the song were true… So true that it hurt.

She remembered exactly why she loved the song. This song had once meant something to her. She had learnt something from it or at least, she had thought she had. But then, her life had been turned upside down and the meaning had been lost. "_Well, life is too short, so love the one you got," _she remembered yelling that line over the noise of the shower repeatedly throughout those teenage years. She believed in those words. And then, 'life' happened to her and she forgot the song that had once mattered a lot to her…

It all came back to her. It was ironic. She had acted in life exactly the opposite of what she sang once upon a time. She had even got shot… but she never got to fully love the life she'd got.

Their trance was broken when the song ended and the presenter announced the next song. Yet, they held each other's gaze. The intensity was palpable.

"Kate," he whispered, her name sounding like a plea. He was begging and seeking wordlessly.

The first emotion she felt was fear; intense, mind numbing fear. Castle had, once again, caught her in a vulnerable moment. She wanted to get up and run into the bedroom and lock the door. But she didn't. For the first time in years, she _remembered_ the song. She felt like she had been blindfolded the whole time and now, suddenly, someone had removed the blindfold. Yes, she needed to stop wasting precious moments anymore.

She didn't answer him. Instead, she closed the distance between them and touched his lips with hers. It was more than the physical urge… It was an overwhelming need to be 'one' with him. She needed to be a part of him. She needed him to be a part of her. The warm and moist softness of his lips drew her in and she parted her lips in an invitation. Her tongue ran gently along his lower lip. When she felt him reach out and meet her halfway, she couldn't suppress the moan that escaped her lips. Every nerve fiber in her body was in a state of hyperawareness, begging for those sensations that she had long denied to herself. Her body and soul were engaged in a common prayer, a prayer to mingle, a prayer to merge with the other human being who could set her on fire and set her free at the same time.

Yes, she could get run over by a truck tomorrow, she could get shot again. Life was indeed to short and she had learnt it the hard way.

She needed to love the one she had got.

_**A/N: Okay, so this is the first chapter in the story I'm actually kind of satisfied with. Still I'm nervous because whenever it comes to Caskett scenes, people have high expectations. Please remember that this wasn't a date to them (though we know it was! :D ) I know this chapter does nothing to progress the case but I was in a really bad mood throughout the day and I needed to write a bit of fluff. There can never be too much of Caskett fluff, right?**_

_**I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to answer the reviews and PMs… particularly to Crazy4Castle and Sophiadelancy. It's past 1.30 am here and I've to wake up at 5.30 am, so I'll reply to you guys tomorrow. I love you all anyway for reading my story and being my friend.**_

_**To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving Day! **_

_**Disclaimer: If I were the owner of Castle, the show would've been much less awesome but "Caskett" would've happened a lot earlier ;)**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Beckett, we just got vic's phone and computer records," Ryan called out from his desk.

Kate was sitting at her desk, staring at the whiteboard. Castle had not come in yet. As the seconds turned into minutes, she was getting more and more concerned. She couldn't shake off the images from last night. What had it meant to him? They had never got the chance to talk about it. Before long, she had completely zoned out with her eyes still fixed on the murder board.

_She knew she had started the kiss. She didn't regret her decision._

_She nipped his lower lip before running her tongue over it. His hand rose on its own accord to nestle in her hair. She couldn't hold back a guttural moan when she felt the gentle tug in her hair. Desire burned through her veins and she found herself pressed against his muscular chest. She marveled at how beautifully their bodies moulded together. _

_His lips left hers and hovered over her jaw instead, silently seeking permission to touch her. She responded by placing her palm on the back of his head and pulling him towards herself. She shivered when she felt him trail her skin with warm, moist kisses. By the time he dipped his head further and kissed the smooth, pale skin of her neck, she was breathing heavily._

_She felt his teeth graze the skin over her beating Carotid pulse. She involuntarily ground her hips against his and felt the physical evidence of his desire for her. She heard him groan against her neck, sending jolts of pleasant vibration across her body that served to heat up her core even further. _

"_Kate," he whispered hoarsely, "if you don't want... ask me to stop now. If… if.."_

_He was cut off by Kate mid-sentence. "Don't stop, Rick." She was breathless with desire._

_He raised his eyes to look into hers. "Are you sure, Kate?" His blue eyes were dark with desire and hope. They were pleading Kate to say yes. But he was still being a gentleman. He wouldn't rush Kate into doing anything that she might regret later. Of course, she wouldn't regret it. She wouldn't regret a single moment of this night._

_She didn't answer him. Instead, she held his gaze and reached for his hands. Without saying a word, she grasped them both and brought them to her breasts._

_Something primitive, something feral woke up inside him when he felt the softness of her flesh under his palms through the fabric of her clothes. _

_In a blink of an eye, their lips were locked in a violently passionate kiss._

"_Dad! Dad! Dad!... Dad! Dad! Dad!... Dad! Dad! Dad!" Castle's cell phone pierced the silence brutally._

_They jumped apart like a pair of singed cats. Kate was startled badly by the offending noise and Castle looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Muttering something under his breath, he fumbled inside his pocket and brought out his phone. Neither of them needed to look at the ID to know who the caller was. He looked at Kate apologetically._

_Kate nodded with a small smile, still breathing heavily. She was about to spontaneously combust but she still wouldn't keep a father from his daughter._

"_Hey pumpkin," she heard Rick start the conversation. She closed her eyes and flopped back on the couch. She felt frustrated… and then she mentally slapped herself. Since when did she start getting so desperate about sex with a guy? Of course, he wasn't just any guy…_

_After a few minutes, she realized he had stopped talking. She opened her eyes and found him looking at her intently._

_She smiled at him, "I see you've set that alarming ringtone for your daughter again… Is Alexis alright?"_

"_Yes… she wants to talk to me about something… stat."_

"_Then what are you waiting for Castle? Go!" They had lost their moment anyway._

"_Uh, yeah. Listen, about earlier…"_

"_Castle, we can talk about it later. Not now. Alexis wants to talk to you."_

"_But we need to talk."_

"_Castle, I will not come between a father and his daughter. Don't make her wait. I'm not going anywhere."_

"_Is that a promise__?"_

_She looked at him. "Yes."_

_He nodded and smiled. He bent down and pecked on her lips. "Night, Detective."_

_She was caught off guard by his gesture. She gathered her thoughts with difficulty. "Until tomorrow, Writer."_

_His face lit up with a surprised smile. "Until tomorrow."_

Ryan's voice brought her back to present.

"Beckett, are you alright?" He was looking at her weirdly, as if she had suddenly grown another head or another set of eyes.

"Yes, yes…" She tried hard not to blush but she wasn't sure if she had succeeded. She felt her cheeks getting warm fast. _Talk about guilty conscience…_ _and they didn't even have sex._ She had to consciously stifle the sigh that threatened to escape her chest.

"Uh, you sure? You seem kind of distracted." Ryan prodded.

"Ryan, I'm fine. Now what were you saying?"

That seemed to work. "I was saying that we have the vic's phone and computer records."

"Okay, what did you find?"

"Jimmy was right… There is indeed a girl named Tess Jones, a year senior to them in school. From the text and email records, she harassed our vic pretty badly. Take a look at this." Ryan clicked on a link in an email Tess had sent to Megan.

The video started with four girls in cheerleading outfits complete with pom-poms. The camera then zoomed in and focused on the girl in the middle. She looked like a hawk with overdone makeup. There was no trace of innocence on her seventeen year old face. Her skin was almost brown with fake tan. Her slate gray eyes looked cruel and had heavy layers of mascara around them. Her cheeks were a sickening shade of pink. Her raven black hair was held up in a horsetail. Her narrow and pointed nose and her rough jaw line made her look like an evil witch. Her thick lips were colored blood red.

Then she raised her red pom-poms and started her routine. On mute, the video would look like a regular cheerleading routine but the words made all the difference.

"Keep up you spirits, no matter the score,

Megan is a slut, Megan is a whore,

Give me W- Give me H- Give me O- Give me R- Give me E

Yeah, Megan is a whore."

The video continued and so did the insults on Megan. Kate tuned out the rest. She had listened to the first four lines and she almost had a headache.

Ryan sighed and shook her head. "Beckett, look at the list of people whom Tess sent this video. There are at least a hundred of them. This must have gone viral within minutes."

"That's not all, bro. This video was uploaded on the YouTube." Esposito commented from his desk and pointed towards the screen of his computer. He had the same video playing on the website. "And look at it, 254 'likes'. Disgusting!"

"Wait, scroll through the comments and see what people have to say." Beckett was leaning forward.

"This is sick… Read this… 'Ur 2 funny. ROFLMFAO… What does it even mean?"

Beckett rolled her eyes but there was no trace of humor. "It means Rolling on Floor Laughing My Fat Ass Off."

"Good for them. That must be the only time their 'fat asses' get some exercise." Ryan spat.

Beckett had already skipped over to other comments. She was trying to understand if the hatred was justified, if there could have been people who hated Megan enough to kill her. So far she had come across nothing except horrible spellings and grammar and mindless acronyms. Then she came across a comment, "Whose this whore. She giv gud bj? XD" She had had enough.

"That's it, guys. Most people commenting here don't even know her. It's useless."

Ryan and Esposito didn't seem to hear her. They were intently peering into the computer screen, muttering among themselves. "Dude, they don't know the difference between you're and your! Castle will be all fired up when he sees this…"

"Three detectives huddled around a computer… I don't think it's porn though." They heard Castle's booming voice as he approached them.

"Speak of the devil…" Ryan muttered.

"… and he shall appear. Don't think I didn't hear you, Ryan." He grinned at Ryan who looked flustered. "What were you saying about me behind my back?"

"We were saying that if you read these, you'll have a heart attack."

"Let me see…" Castle took a moment to read the screen. "Oh my God! Detectives, why are you still sitting here? Arrest them. They've raped and murdered the English language."

"What's the punishment, bro? Virtual death sentence? Life imprisonment in a grammar class?" They high-fived each other.

Castle turned to seek Kate's support. He faced empty space.

She had left without saying a word.

(….)

Kate stood in the break room alone, leaning against the coffee machine.

He had come in late. He had joked with the guys but he hadn't spoken even a word to her. After everything that happened last night (though it wasn't much), he hadn't even looked at her.

The rational part of her tried to come up with an explanation. It is true that had Castle given her one of his intense looks, she'd have blushed like a tomato. She'd be so busted in front of the boys… Maybe that's why…

Did she do the wrong thing, coming on to him like that last night? Maybe this wasn't really a serious thing to Castle… He did have two failed marriages behind him. She didn't even know why his marriages had broken up. Maybe intimacy wasn't a big deal to Castle.

_Or maybe he doesn't know if you're willing to let the guys clue in… maybe he's waiting for you to make the first move. _

Or maybe she was on her way to become one of his conquests.

After all, this morning, Castle had not brought her coffee. _  
><em>

(…..)

Castle was worried.

Kate hadn't spoken a single word since he had stepped inside the precinct. He was trying to give her space. There was one lesson he had learnt over the four years… You do not push Beckett.

He was still waiting for her to speak, to show him that everything was fine. What happened last night wasn't his fault really… Well, it wasn't a fault at all… but Kate could be unpredictable at times. Could it be that she was regretting her decision last night? What he wouldn't do to know what was going on in her mind right now… He hoped Kate wouldn't push him away.

Richard Castle was an optimistic man. He had always hoped that one day, Kate would open up to him. One day, Kate would trust him with her heart. His heart was already in her hands.

If she decided to break it now, he wasn't sure if he'd survive…

He wished he had brought her coffee to soften her mood. Caffeine deprived Beckett was a grumpy Beckett… But he really couldn't really help it. His usual coffee shop was closed and by then, it was too late for him to change his route and go to another. So he had decided to make her coffee in the break room, instead… just the way she liked it.

What if Kate decided to ignore last night? What if she pretended it didn't happen? Like the incident inside the freezer… or their undercover kiss. He was pretty sure that she remembered his profession of love at the cemetery… She had to. Esposito had said that people never truly forget the traumatic events, they just put them in a box. From experience, he had said that the sniper case had busted open Beckett's box of traumatic memories. So somewhere among those bleak, frightening, terrifying memories, there was that tiny piece of memory as well… But she hadn't spoken about it. Castle was quite sure that she now remembered… and she had chosen to ignore it… as always.

What if she chose to 'forget' last night as well?

No, he needed to talk to her.

He entered the break room to find her leaning against the coffee machine. She was visibly upset. Well, at least she wasn't trying to act nonchalant… That was a start.

"Kate, are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. He saw sadness… He saw that she was hurt… Only, he didn't know what he had done to hurt her. She remained silent.

"What's wrong?"

He saw her face morph into the expressionless mask, that famous poker face of Detective Kate Beckett. His Kate was running away from him and Beckett was taking her place. "Nothing, Castle. I'm fine." _Oh, so she was mad at him._ She started walking past Castle.

He had had enough. He at least deserved to know what he had done to upset her. He gripped her right arm tightly and tugged. He knew he could lose his limb any moment now… or worse… but he had to take the chance. At least that would be better than the pain of not knowing how he had let her down… of not knowing if she had decided to throw him into the trashcan of her life.

"Castle, let me go or I swear…"

"No," he cut her off, "I'll not let go until you tell me what's wrong… Not after last night."

The last part of the sentence hit her. _So last night must've meant something to him after all. _She wanted Castle to release her arm. Her first instinct was to twist his arm out of his shoulder socket for stopping her, but that wasn't really warranted. That would also mean too much of paperwork. She wasn't sure if she was capable of doing that to him, either. But she had to vent her anger… She glared at him.

Castle didn't flinch. He held her eyes. He seemed… determined. He searched her eyes for answers.

"Hey Beckett, we just got…. Uh…" Esposito rushed into the break room and then skidded to a stop. He took in the scene in front of him. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No," she replied.

"Yes," Castle replied at the same time.

She glared at him for one last time before turning to face Esposito. "What did we just get?"

"A call from Matt Williams. He says, someone has broken into his house. We're going there to canvass the scene. You wanna join?"

Beckett sighed. They had avoided the confrontation… for now.

"Yes. Let's go."

_**A/N: One step forward, two steps back… Doesn't that sound like Beckett to you? It does, to me *shrugs* Shippers, don't be disheartened, this is just a small glitch in the ship, I promise ;-)**_

_**I apologize for mistakes that might have crept into this chapter. I'm rushing this between shifts (on a Sunday *sighs* ) because without writing, I feel like a crack addict on withdrawal.**_

_**On a completely different note: I started watching "Rizzoli and Isles" this week… Man, that's one good show (nothing compares to Castle though!) I've watched seven episodes so far and I'm already shipping Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles. I was wondering if I should write any Rizzles fanfiction… I mean, that relationship would be easier for me to write :P Not that I'll abandon Caskett. I'll be forever faithful to the awesome Castle fandom but a few Rizzles story in between? Any takers? Let me know :-)**_

_**Disclaimer: You thought I own Castle? LOL, you're funny! **_


	6. Chapter 6

Their whole car ride was silent and tense.

She could feel him staring at her. She didn't look at him.

What if she didn't see in his eyes what she wanted to see? It would crush her. What if she did see in his eyes what she wanted to see? It would make her feel like a douche. What did she expect to see in his eyes anyway? She didn't have a clue. She didn't know what to do. She wondered for the umpteenth time how they'd reached this point. Oh right, because she had been mad at him… for not looking at her, for talking to the boys before her, for not bringing her coffee… The more she thought about it, the more she felt ridiculous. She had behaved like a moody teenager. _God, that was pathetic! _But she wasn't sure if she wanted to break the ice. She didn't know how to break the ice.

She parked the car in front of the Williams' house and got out. She waited until she heard the door on Castle's side close. She still didn't look back though.

Castle had at least not stopped following her.

When they got inside the house, Esposito and Ryan were already with the CSU, checking for evidence of break in. Matt was sitting at the corner of the room on a chair. He looked shaken.

"Mr. Williams, we need to know what happened." She started gently.

"I didn't go to office. I was sitting here… Suddenly I heard a noise. It was coming from Meg's room… I rushed upstairs. The window was open. I ran to the window and saw someone jump over the fence."

Kate sighed. Someone had broken into their victim's room a day after her murder. This was getting complicated. "Matt, at what time did it happen?"

"Around 9… 9.30…"

"Did you see his face? Can you describe him for us?"

"No… No… I didn't see his face. But he was thin and lean… and tall… he seemed very young… a teen, maybe. He was wearing a deep blue hooded jacket."

"Is anything missing from your daughter's room?"

"It's been ransacked. I don't know if anything is missing."

"Okay, don't worry Matt, CSU is looking into it. They've kept a log of every item during the last sweep. If anything is missing, we'll find out."

Matt took in a deep breath and then shuddered. "Do you think the guy who broke in killed my daughter?"

Beckett hesitated. She didn't like jumping to conclusions. "It is possible."

"Why did the bastard come back? What does he want now? My daughter…my daughter… She's already dead." His voice broke down.

Castle, who was silent during the whole time, couldn't help himself. "Matt, I know it is difficult… We'll catch the guy, we promise."

Matt looked at him with distressed eyes. "Why did they kill Megan, Mr. Castle? Why? Why are they back? What was she involved in? I don't think I knew my daughter at all."

Before they could answer him, a CSU official came in. "Detective Beckett, you should see this."

Beckett looked at Matt, "Excuse me."

The official led Beckett and Castle to the garden. "This is where the intruder cleared the fence. We've got shoe prints on the mud. We're now dusting the fence for fingerprints."

"What did you find in her room?"

"We did find a set of foreign fingerprints in the victim's room. We've already lifted those fingerprints."

"Good. Hopefully we'll get a match. Thank you, officer."

They spent the next ten minutes looking around but didn't find anything else. After comforting the distraught father some more, they left.

The return drive was silent too. The air inside the car was thick with tension.

Castle spoke out when Beckett turned a corner. "Kate, pull up."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Pull up, please." Castle's voice was urgent. Kate obliged.

Castle got out of the car and hurried to the sidewalk. She watched as he jogged forward a little and entered through the glass doors of a shop. For the first time, she read the sign above it. "Starbucks"

Oh… _oh… _

When Castle came back five minutes later, Kate was sitting with her head resting on the steering wheel.

She didn't open her eyes when she heard the door on the passenger side open. Soon, the rich aroma of coffee wafted into her nostrils and her eyes opened on their own accord.

Castle was looking at her with those crystal blue eyes, holding out a coffee cup to her.

Kate felt awful. Traces of remorse had been torturing her since morning but now it was far worse. She had been selfish. How could she ever doubt this man who had always been there for her over the past four years? Why did her brain sometimes take in everything in a twisted way? The heavenly smell from the steaming cup comforted her and pained her. She couldn't really accept that cup from him without admitting that she had acted like a spoilt brat. But she didn't have it in her to decline, either. She wouldn't. "Thanks, Castle." She mumbled.

He tried to shrug in nonchalance but Kate could see his shoulders tight and tensed. "Well, I figured that caffeine might help to elevate your mood."

Another moment passed in silence.

"I'm sorry." Her voice sounded small and uncertain. She hated herself.

"Uh… Okay…" He paused for a moment, "Now drink before it gets cold."

She complied. As the warm, brown beverage comforted her palate, she saw him offer her a tentative smile.

"Are you going to tell me why you're mad at me?"

Kate didn't know how to answer this without sounding unreasonable. She looked down at her coffee for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to express herself. "We… we never got the chance to talk about last night…"

"Yeah... and you said we'd talk about it today."

"Castle, please let me get this out first, okay?" She looked at him with pleading eyes. He nodded understandingly. "Castle, I… I… What we started last night… I don't know what it means to you but it means a lot to me…" She didn't dare to look at him so she closed her eyes. "I'm afraid, Rick. I've waited for a long time… I've tried to do this right. I really, really don't want to screw this up. I didn't know how you felt about last night. I didn't know if it meant anything to you at all. Then you were late, you didn't talk to me, you didn't bring me coffee and… I felt…"

She stopped abruptly when his lips mashed on hers. She slid on her seat from the sheer force of the kiss. Her lips parted involuntarily, inviting him in and he obliged. He probed further into her mouth, feeling the warmth of the liquid she had just drunk. She tasted like coffee.

"You know Kate, as smart as you are, sometimes you can be so silly." He kissed her lips again. "When will you realize that I want to be with you forever?" He kissed her again. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life." He pulled her into him in a deep, toe curling kiss.

He ran his tongue over her teeth. As it bumped over her slightly crooked canine, he felt arousal surge through his body. His left hand was behind the nape of her neck, cradling her head. His right hand slipped under her jacket.

Kate's fingers were running freely and wildly across his broad back. They curled in a fist when she felt him suck on her tongue.

The shrill ring of Kate's phone broke the frenzied spell.

Castle jerked up and banged his head against the wheel. "Damn! Cell phones should be banned!" He sat up, rubbing his head.

Kate was suddenly aware of her surroundings. They had been making out in a police car parked outside Starbucks on a busy street. _Damn!_ She waited for a moment before answering her phone so that she didn't sound breathless. "Beckett."

"Hey Beckett, what's taking you so lo… Are you okay? You sound… breathless." Ryan trailed off.

Oh, she had failed in her endeavor to sound 'normal'. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine… Why are you calling? Any lead?" She was more than eager to change the topic.

"Yeah, we've brought in Tess the bully in for questioning. Are you coming back any time soon or shall we go in?"

"Uh… no wait… we'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay then. Hurry up, Beckett." Ryan signed off.

"Yeah, we're on our way."

(…)

Tess Jones was sitting in the interrogation room. She was flanked by her mother, Rhonda and their lawyer on either side.

Tess wasn't wearing as much makeup as in the video. Instead of sickening pink, her cheeks looked pale white. She looked like a shining porcelain doll. Her mother sat beside her, dressed impeccably in a designer dress and perfect makeup, more befitting of a gala than the Precinct interrogation room. The mother and the daughter were constantly typing away at their smart phones with fine, manicured fingers, one for business and the other for mindless fun.

The lawyer who sat on the girl's other side was impressive. She was dressed for business and looked highly professional, someone the rich people would probably approach for help when implicated in cases of fraud or a major scam or tax evasion… or maybe, homicide. Kate wondered if the lady in the black business suit sat there with her rich clients as a simple precautionary measure or as a protective shield against the State Justice System.

"Hello, I'm Detective Kate Beckett." Kate introduced herself as she entered the room.

"Detective, we've been waiting for hours. Unlike some people, our time is precious." Rhonda Jones complained at the first chance she got.

Kate bit back a retort with difficulty. "I'm aware that you've waiting for the last twenty minutes. So, let's get straight to the point."

The woman and her daughter looked at the lawyer who nodded sagely. Kate didn't pay them attention. "So, Tess Jones, did you know Megan Williams?"

The girl looked over at the counselor before wrinkling her nose, "Megan who?"

This was going to be a long interrogation. "Megan Williams. She was a student at your school, a year junior."

"No."

"Really?"

Tess opened her mouth to answer but the lawyer beat her to it, "My client has already answered your question with a negative."

Beckett considered her for a moment. "That's too bad because it means your client is lying. We've records of emails and texts that Tess sent Megan." The room was suddenly silent. She smiled internally. "So, want to start over? Tess, did you know Megan Williams?"

"Well, I might have met her once or twice."

"Once or twice?"

The counselor cut in again, "She means a few times." The lady in the suit was beginning to grate on Beckett's nerves.

"Okay, Tess. So tell me, what happened in those 'few times' that made you post hateful videos on the internet?"

Once again, the answer didn't come from Tess. "My client refuses to answer this question."

Kate leaned forward. "Counselor, we have a copy of every video that Tess Jones posted on the internet. We've record of every text, call and IM that your client sent the victim. Here read this," she slipped forward a copy of Megan's phone records over the table. "Tess sent Megan an IM the morning of Megan's murder. It reads, _Bitch, I hope u die." _ She paused for a moment. "A few hours later, she turns up dead. It doesn't bode well for your client. If you do not co-operate, we'll dig further and further until we've uncovered every spec of dirt on her. And given her nature, it'll be a lot. Trust me, you don't want that."

Tess suddenly got fidgety. "I've nothing to do with Megan's death," she blurted out.

Score one for Beckett. "Why did you bully her? She even complained against you to the authorities."

The teenager huffed. "I didn't bully her. Megan was a bitch, okay? She was always like, high and almighty… Who did she think she was, complaining to the principal about me? She was a nerd and teachers always love the nerds… She was teacher's pet. She thought she had one over us. She thought she could do anything she wanted, the party pooper…"

"And so you decided to defame her?"

"Look, the first time I posted, I was drunk, okay? But then she threatened to complain to authorities… As if the principal was her hound that she could unleash on me."

"So, you decided to show her that she could do nothing against you."

"Well, she couldn't, could she?"

"Why did you send her the text that morning?"

"Because I wanted to." She crossed her arms in a defiant posture.

"And you also wanted her dead."

The counselor cut in once again, her voice loud, "My client will not answer that question. This is pure speculation. So unless you have any further evidence, this interview is over."

"One last question, Tess. Where were you yesterday, between 11 am and 2 pm?"

"School," her mother piped in.

"No, Mrs. Jones. She was not at school."

"I was at home."

"Can anyone vouch for that?"

"Yeah, I can." Her mother answered again, ridiculously.

"Where were you, Mrs. Jones?"

"Office," Rhonda replied. Clearly, the woman had her brain stored in her cell phone's memory card. Kate could see the counselor shaking her head.

"So you were at office and yet you can confirm your daughter's presence at home." She paused with an eyebrow raised for effect. "I think we're done."

(….)

Castle was standing on the other side of the one-way glass, observing the girl and her mother. For some odd reason, they reminded him of Cinderella's evil stepmother and stepsister. Castle frowned. Sometimes the senselessness of his thoughts surprised even himself.

"What do you think, Castle?" He heard her voice behind him. He turned around to see Kate standing at the door, looking thoughtful.

"I don't know, Detective. She doesn't look smart enough to plan a murder. Tess doesn't seem to have had any physical fight over the last 24 hrs. Wouldn't she be afraid to break her manicured nails?"

"Well, you've a point. She doesn't seem to be the type. But she lied about her alibi… That's suspicious."

"Do you think she could've paid someone else to kill her?"

"Anything is possible, Castle. Tess is definitely a suspect at this point of time."

The door opened and Esposito entered, "Beckett, we just got a call from the Crime Lab. There was a hit on the fingerprint."

Castle and Beckett sighed simultaneously, partly in relief and partly in anticipation.

"Okay, let's go."

_**A/N: Okay, so I've been really busy in the last couple of days but I wanted to publish this today. I was debating if I should draw out the Caskett confrontation for a bit longer but I didn't want them to stay apart for too long. Besides, the case needed to move forward. Tell me if you like this chapter. The blue review link at the bottom is all yours :)**_

_**I want to thank **__Lauren Pannell, crazy4castle, bones35, , sourmelonsoup, tiff098765, gloriajv __**and **__sophiadelancy __**for leaving their reviews**__. __**You encourage me to write more. I'm grateful to you guys. I also appreciate the readers who've added me/my story to their favorites. **_

_**Sourmelonsoup, your review made me laugh out loud. Actually, I think it's kind of sweet ;) **_

_**Disclaimer: If Castle were mine, I'd have already known why "Cuffed" was shot behind closed doors. **_


	7. Chapter 7

They were looking at the picture of a boy onscreen.

The boy was Hispanic with black curly hair. He had a thin face with wide black eyes. He looked no more than eighteen. His chin was beginning to grow wisps of facial hair. Though it could hardly be judged from a digital photograph, his eyes seemed to have an intelligent twinkle in them.

"This is Alejandro Martinez. A year ago, he was picked up for underage drinking. The fingerprints we lifted from Megan's room today belong to him." Ryan stated.

Beckett nodded thoughtfully. "What's his connection to the victim?"

"He goes to the same school as our victim, a year senior."

"So he's the bully's classmate?" Castle observed.

"Yes."

Kate leaned forward to read Alejandro's file. "Alejandro Martinez a.k.a Al, seventeen, was the top of his class until last year, a Mathlete, he's a part of school soccer, running and swimming teams… won as the model student of the year twice… hmm."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Castle spoke out from behind her.

"What are you thinking, Castle?"

"That how a soccer jock is also a Mathlete! It's a contradiction!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "No, I'm thinking that he's athletic enough to enter and leave without getting caught, strong enough to overpower our victim and smart enough to have a fool proof plan."

Castle was staring at the boy's face intently. "Why is this face familiar to me?"

They heard Esposito shuffle in response to Castle's question. "I'll tell you why. Take a look at this."

The two detectives and the writer gathered around Esposito's table. The Hispanic detective had opened a file recovered from Megan's computer. "Look at these pics."

"Looks like Megan and Al were dating!"

"Yeah. Look at the date of the last pic, Beckett."

"A year ago… and Jimmy said that he was together with her for the last year. So, Al was her ex."

"And Jimmy was his replacement… That could be motive." Ryan pitched in.

"There's only one way to find out… Let's pick up Al."

(…)

Beckett placed the coffee mug in front of Castle.

"You made me coffee?" the writer asked gleefully.

A small frown crossed Kate's forehead. "You sound surprised."

"Yeah… No… I mean, this isn't a regular occurrence."

"You did remind me how many coffees I owe you… So, I figured…" Kate shrugged.

"Hey, I was just kidding."

"Yeah…" she wanted to change the topic of conversation. "So, why were you late in the morning?" She immediately regretted asking the question as she saw Castle's face darken. She hurried to control the damage, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

"I had a fight with my daughter," he replied quietly. "The worst fight I ever had with my daughter."

"About her new boyfriend?"

"Yeah… last night she wanted to talk about this whole 'relationship' thing… She wants to go on a tour to France with her boyfriend... She wanted my permission. I didn't give her my permission and… You know, I always thought Alexis is mature for her age. I still do… which is why I cannot understand why she's behaving like this."

"Hmm…"

"Day before yesterday, we had a scheduled movie time together but she went out saying she had a date. I'm afraid for her… Look at our mathlete suspect… model student… and he was picked up for underage drinking… God knows what my daughter could be doing… Alcohol, drugs…" He buried his face in his palms.

"Whoa, whoa, Castle, I still don't see Alexis doing drugs."

"I think the Stanford rejection along with her break up with Ashley has really messed her up. She's looking for change or thrill or something. She's falling for bad boys." Castle made a sour face.

"Every girl goes through a bad boy phase, Castle."

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing by not letting her go to France with that guy?"

"Yes. Of course."

"But she'll hate me."

"She will… but eventually she'll see your side if things as well. This phase will pass."

"Exactly how long can this phase last? How long did it last in your case, Kate?"

Kate began to answer the question but was interrupted by Ryan, "Did he just call you Kate, Beckett?"

"Don't you know it's impolite to eavesdrop on others' conversation?" Kate asked incredulously.

"Well, when you're talking in the middle of the precinct…" Ryan trailed off under Beckett's glare.

"Don't you have work to do, Detective Ryan?" She asked in a tone uncannily similar to Captain Gates. Ryan shrank involuntarily. Kate smirked.

"But he called you Kate," Ryan grumbled.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"But…"

"I'm so sorry Kevin." Castle cut in. "I should have called you by your first name too but I forgot Ryan isn't your first name. That happens when you've two first names."

Castle was really good at yanking the Irish Detective's chains because the latter walked away from them, muttering something under his breath.

"Yo, Beckett! Picked up Al from school… where should we place him?" Esposito called out.

"Interrogation 1," Beckett called back.

"Castle, do you want to go in?"

"Of course, detective. I was shocked when you didn't let me in during Tess' interrogation."

"You liked Rhonda Jones, didn't you?" Kate smirked.

"Uh, are you jealous?" He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender when Kate glared at him. "Please, the only thing smart about the woman was her phone."

(…)

Al Martinez was sitting on the steel chair patiently. He hardly moved and kept staring ahead. He was tall and lean but muscular. He was wearing a blue hooded jacket… just as Matt had described. His unruly black curls fell on his forehead. His dark eyes were wide. It looked like he was making a conscious effort to breathe evenly.

"Al, I'm Detective Beckett. This is Richard Castle, my partner."

Al's eyes lit up, "Castle, the writer?"

Rick smiled and nodded while Kate tried hard not to roll her eyes.

"Mr. Castle, I've read all of your books. Derrick Storm is my hero… And Nikki Heat is smart too."

Castle started to reply but stopped when he caught the look on Kate's face. So he just nodded.

Beckett cleared her throat. "So, Al, do you know why you're here?"

"No."

"Did you know Megan Williams?"

"No."

"You didn't know her?"

"Not really. I mean I knew there's a girl named Megan but that's it."

"Really?" Kate raised an eyebrow and slipped a picture of Al and Megan together on the table. "Care to revise your story?"

Al was silent for a full minute. "I had no idea she still had those pictures," he whispered finally. He sighed and then slumped forward. "We… she was my girlfriend."

"Why did you guys break up?" Castle prodded.

"I guess you already know I was picked up a year ago for underage drinking. She broke off with me after that."

"And how did you feel about it? Were you angry?"

"I was disappointed." He said softly. "I made a mistake. But she didn't give me a chance. I come back home from station, my parents tell me how disappointed they're in me, my drinking friends have already disappeared, others are showing me sympathy and I come back to my room, pick up phone and I see it… A text sitting in my inbox… She broke up with me over text. I was very disappointed."

"Jimmy is your friend, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is… I help him with Calculus…"

"So how did you feel when she immediately got together with Jimmy?"

"Bad. I felt bad. But Jimmy apologized to me… Besides, Megan didn't break up with me because of Jimmy. We broke up because I screwed up and she wouldn't give me a second chance."

"Al, we've reason to believe that you broke into her house this morning."

"What? No!"

"We've your fingerprints at the scene."

"What?"

"And shoe prints too… and since you're sure that it wasn't you who broke in, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind if we compared the prints to your shoes."

"Uh…" Suddenly the well spoken boy had turned speechless.

Beckett leaned forward as she always did when closing in on a prey. "Al, the way things are going, I really think that it's looking bad for you. If you don't co-operate, it will get worse."

"Look, I meant no harm. I didn't know Mr. W was there. I thought he'd be in office."

"Tell us what happened."

"I just wanted to… uh… take something that she had… it belonged to me."

"What was it?"

He looked first at Beckett and then at Castle pleadingly, hoping that they would drop the issue. However, he soon realized that it wasn't going to happen. "A picture of us… together. I gave it to her last week."

"You broke into a crime scene for a picture of you two? Why?" Beckett asked incredulously.

"Uh… I didn't want you guys to find it."

Castle was more interested in the story. "Why did you give her a picture of you two when she was dating another guy?" He paused for a moment and then it struck him. "Wait, you were trying to get back with her, weren't you?"

The boy fidgeted in his seat.

Kate went ahead for the kill. "So what happened, Al? She refused… You got angry and decided to kill her?"

"No, no," the boy shook his head frantically, "I don't have anything to do with her death, I swear."

"Then tell us the truth."

"Look…" He cleared his throat nervously. "I wasn't planning to get back with her… I'm in love with another girl. It was a part of a deal… She would be my girlfriend only if I could help her break Megan's relationship with Jimmy. She wanted me to pretend."

"So that Megan would leave Jimmy for you and then you'd leave her… That way, you get over your 'disappointment' and you get the girl." Castle completed his story for him.

Al nodded.

Kate shook her head in disgust, "Where were you yesterday between 11 am and 2 pm?"

"I was with my girlfriend… at her place…"

"What's your girlfriend's name?"

"Tess… Tess Jones."

(….)

"Really? Really?" Castle flailed dramatically. "How can someone so dumb be a mathlete? Can't he see that she's just using him? What does he see in her anyway?"

"Castle, he had his own interests too… Revenge… and the girl would be an added bonus."

"I wonder why Tess didn't mention it."

"I don't know. We will pick her up again. She lied to us, on record. This should make it easier for us."

"Hmm… but if Tess confirms, that would mean both our lead suspects have alibi."

"No," Kate looked up at him from her files. "It might also mean that they're in it together. Maybe Megan is the planner, Al the executer."

Castle flopped back in his chair. "When I was a teenager, I didn't plot murders to please girlfriends. I always had other ways." He chuckled. "This one time, when I was sixteen…"

"Castle, I don't wanna know."

"Oh, okay… the point is, when I was a teen, I was still debating with my friends about the coolest aliens of all times."

"Really, Castle?"

"What were you doing as a teen?"

"None of your business."

"Come on, Kate."

She leaned forward. They were so close that he could feel her warm breath on his face. "Call me Kate in the Precinct again and I'll tear off your ears."

The minty breath on his face and her rumbling voice made him incoherent. "Uh…um… uh…"

"Yo Beckett… oh, we're interrupting something." The two detectives turned around and started to walk away.

"What's it, guys?" She called out but didn't look at them. She was smirking at Castle instead.

"Uh, we just wanted to say that we've processed Al in holding under charges of criminal trespassing and obstruction of justice. But we've to find something soon before he is bailed out." Ryan looked like a school boy in the principal's office.

"What about Tess?"

"She's on her way to the Precinct."

"Good."

(…)

"What are you thinking, Castle?"

Castle was staring far ahead of him. He was quiet … something which was highly unlike him.

"I'm thinking that I never thought about how my books could affect teenagers. Al read my books… He's younger than Alexis and I still don't let her read my books."

"Castle, it doesn't work that way… We don't know for sure if Al committed the murder. Even if he did, it's not because he read your books."

He looked at her pensively. "How do you know?"

"Because, if he had read your books attentively, he'd have at least worn gloves to the scene… No one can be so careless if he's learning crime from your book."

Castle seemed to consider her for a second. "You mean I write good plots?"

"Yeah, you do think like a pro criminal." She smiled. When she saw a smug smile on his face, she hastily added, "That's not a good thing, Castle. Don't let it get in your head."

"Huh," Castle grinned, "you just admitted that I write good books."

"Hey, I never said that."

"You did, Detective. You did!"

"Whatever…" Kate rolled her eyes.

(….)

Tess was sitting yet again in the interrogation room with the lawyer by her side. This time, thankfully, her hare brained mother was absent.

"Tess, you lied to us about your alibi." Beckett started without a preamble.

The girl jerked back to reality, "What? No! I told you, I was at home."

"Can anyone vouch for that?"

"My mother did."

"It doesn't count because she wasn't there. Maybe you were not at home."

"Detective," the counselor started, "this is bordering on harassment."

"Not when we have evidence that your client provoked someone to break into the victim's house a day after the victim was killed."

The lady looked pointedly at her client. Tess averted her eyes.

"Tess, we know that you were with your boyfriend Alejandro Martinez."

"He's not my boyfriend. He's a dork. Besides, I don't date chocolates." Tess said loudly, wrinkling her nose as if she was being forced to smell trash.

Kate clenched her jaws and suppressed her urge to slap the girl. "That's the least of your worries, Tess. Al is already in custody. We've proof that he broke into Megan's house today morning. He has confessed that you wanted his help to break up Megan and Jimmy. We know the two of you were together at the time of Megan's murder and no one can prove that you were at your place… We only need to place you two at the crime scene… Given the pile of lies that the two of you are trying to feed us from the start, it'll be easy… So speak up or the counselor will not be able to help."

Tess glanced at her counselor.

"I think you should clear up the confusion with the detective, Miss Jones."

Tess gulped before facing Beckett again. "I… I have proof… We… I have a video of the time we spent at my place."

"A video?"

"Yeah… I needed leverage… Something that would stop him from ever spilling the secret that I sent him after Megan."

(….)

"Ugh!" That was Castle's response as they played the video.

Al was on the video, doing a strip tease for the person who held the camera, that's Tess.

"Do we really need to watch it? We've seen the time stamp. Please… This is torture!"

"Castle, you've a porn stash hidden in the back of your closet and you can't watch a piece of evidence?" Beckett countered.

"Wait, how do you know about his porn stash?" Esposito asked with raised eyebrows.

"Castle mentioned it… Remember that one time he thought he was cursed and he wanted to get rid of his porn stash if he ended up dead?"

Ryan sniggered, "Yeah, we remember. Anyway, this video looks legit and the time stamp doesn't look altered. I'll send it to the crime lab for double checking anyway."

Beckett sighed and dropped down on her chair. "Our two prime suspects just alibied out. We're back to square one."

The three men nodded grimly in agreement.

Beckett's phone rang. "Beckett. Okay, we'll be right there." She hung up the phone and looked at the guys. "Lanie said she found something important. Come on, Castle."

(…)

"What've you found, Lanie?" Beckett marched into the morgue with Castle in tow.

"Well, hi to you too."

"Lanie, our suspects just alibied out. So get straight to the point." She took in the sight of Lanie standing in front of her with hands on her hips and glaring at her; so she added for good measure, "Please?"

The M.E's face softened. "Now that you put it nicely… I've found something. Remember the piece of grey fabric that we found under the victim's nails? I ran it for DNA and we've some."

"That's great. Do we have a match?"

"The DNA didn't belong to the victim but the mitochondrial DNA from the sample matched to the victim."

"That means the killer is related to the victim?"

"That means the DNA belongs to the victim's mother."

_**A/N: Dun, dun, dun… Can you hear the music? ;)**_

_**Thanks guys for the awesome reviews… Gloriajv, Nat, Imhereforthestory, crazy4castle, Lauren Pannell, tiff098765, sourmelonsoup, sophiadelancy, Ariel119. Also, thanks to everyone on FB, tumblr and twitter who've liked, commented on, reblogged or retweeted the link.**_

_**I dedicate the story to Imhereforthestory. Your comment, "Are you sure you are not Andrew Marlowe in disguise:D" made me laugh out loud! You rock!**_

_**I know it's all about the case but Caskett is not the type to have some 'fun' when the case is going nowhere… and we want them to have some ' fun', right? ;)**_

_**Please review. Please.**_

_**Disclaimer: As much as I love the comparisons (and they boost my ego :P), I'm not Mr. Marlowe. **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N 1: Please note that the last part of this chapter (**__**after the last line break)**__** is rated "M". You'll be warned again when the portion starts. Underage readers are requested to leave the last part out. I assure you that you don't need to read it in order to continue with the story. The rest of the story is for everyone.**_

"Of course! It had to be the mother." Castle threw a fist in the air in frustration.

"Hmm…" Kate seemed oddly deflated.

"Remember what Jimmy said? He heard her mother's voice downstairs… and a crash."

"Yeah."

"Melanie Williams should've left for the airport by then, according to Matt. But she was still in the picture."

"And she knew that she was supposed to be off the face of earth for the next two days and no one would suspect anything."

"She could be out of the country by now."

Castle had a point. "Damn."

They hurried into the bullpen. "Ryan, Esposito, dig up everything you can on Melanie Williams. I need her phone records, computer records, credit card history, finances, company records… everything… everything on her. In the mean time, we need to inform Matt."

Castle stood still. "Can you imagine what he'll go through when he hears that his wife has killed their daughter?"

Kate sighed. "Let's go. We need to talk to him."

(…)

"What? No! That's impossible. You're wrong. Please tell me you're wrong…" Matt sounded like an animal in pain.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Williams. I really am… But we have DNA evidence. It is not a mistake."

"Oh no! Oh God no!"

Castle was struggling to keep his emotions under control. "When is she supposed to return?"

"Tomorrow, 5 am."

"Okay… We need access to her computer. We'll get a warrant if you want us to." Beckett spoke gently, trying to take the sting off her words as much as possible.

Matt wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "No, it's okay… Oh God, I can't believe it's Mel. Why would she do that? She was her mother, for God's sake!"

Beckett turned and nodded to the CSU officer waiting by the door. She turned back again to face the grieving man. "I'm so sorry."

Matt didn't say anything. He just nodded. Tears were still streaming down his face.

After ten silent minutes, the CSU officer reported that he has finished collecting digital fingerprints and records from the Williams' wi-fi router.

The detective and the writer thanked Matt and left for the Precinct.

(…..)

"Yo Beckett, just got the financials of the mother. Nothing unusual. No credit card activity in the last 48 hours." Esposito placed the file on Beckett's desk.

Beckett sighed. They had hoped that the woman's credit card activity would give away her location or at least they would get an idea about what she did after leaving Megan floating in the pool. Of course, it wasn't supposed to be easy.

"What about her phone records?"

"The phone is switched off. She has probably taken the battery out. There's no way we can track the GPS. We've already subpoenaed the call and text records from the telecom company."

"Good."

"Beckett!" Ryan called out from the tech room, "You need to come and see this for yourself!"

There was something in Ryan's voice that made Kate shoot up from her chair.

Castle followed her suit. "Is it just me or Ryan seems excited?"

"Well, looks like he has found something."

They pushed open the glass door and entered inside. Ryan was staring at the huge screen in front of him.

"What's up, bro?" Esposito asked his partner.

"These are the latest emails and chat records that we recovered from Melanie's account."

Three heads turned instantly to the screen. Kate stepped forward, reading the logs intently. "Well, she seems to have chatted a lot with this person… WhiteKnight123. Ryan, see if you can find out who this WhiteKnight is."

"Already done, Beckett. I tracked the IP address of WhiteKnight123. This man came up." He clicked on a button and the digital copy of a Driver's license came up. "His name is Garry Douglas. Age sixty, single; is a major benefactor of the Deco-Art Company… That's Melanie's decorator company. "

"Look at these photos…" Castle moved forward to stand beside Kate. "Garry and Melanie together. They appear drunk… and intimate."

"Yeah… and read these messages. _Honey, I miss you. Looking forward to some alone time with you._" Beckett supplied.

"So, Melanie was cheating on Matt with Garry."

"Here, read this," Esposito called out, "_See you tomorrow at airport. Don't forget the tickets."_

"Huh," Castle grunted, "Melanie's 'alone time' was not really alone time." He paused for a moment. "Why don't we check for Garry's credit card activities? They'll need money on the trip. If it isn't coming from Melanie's credit card, maybe it's coming from Garry's."

Kate turned around and looked at Castle. "You've a point. Ryan…"

She didn't need to finish the sentence. Ryan replied while furiously clicking on the computer keyboard, "On it… on it…"

A few minutes passed.

Ryan suddenly sat up straight. "Okay, this is odd."

"What?" Kate hurried and walked up to Ryan's side.

"All transactions on Garry's card in the last twenty four hours show he is still in New York."

"Let's pick up Garry. He'll lead us to Melanie."

(….)

"Garry Douglas, do you know why you're here?"

Beckett fixed Garry under a stern stare. The man opposite to her sat gracefully. He had snow white hair which gave him an aged look. His face bore a few wrinkles. He had sharp blue eyes. He was dressed smartly. He definitely had money… and class. He was a man who evidently took care of himself.

"No, detective," He replied, unruffled.

"Do you know Melanie Williams?"

"Yes. I finance her decorator company."

"That's all?" Castle asked incredulously.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Douglas, we believe that you were involved in a non-professional relationship with Melanie." Kate resumed.

A frown appeared between his brows. "This is nonsense."

"Okay then, explain these." Kate handed him the chat records between him and Melanie.

"This is not me." Garry slammed down the records defiantly.

"We've traced your IP address, Mr. Douglas."

"Yes, you might have. But I use a wi-fi router which is used by my employees as well. Anyone working for me can access the internet connection." He crossed his arms over his chest. _Classic defensive posture, _Kate thought to herself.

Castle shook his head and smirked. "Tell me Mr. Douglas, can your employees access your credit card too?"

"What do you mean?" His voice was slightly higher than before.

"Your credit card records show you bought two air tickets to LA and pre-booked a hotel suite in Melanie Williams' name. You're supposed to be in LA, with Melanie. All records prove that. So I guess, the question is, why are you still here?"

Garry rubbed over his face with his palm. "What is this about?"

"Melanie Williams is wanted for murder and at the moment, you're facing charges of being an accomplice."

His eyes widened in horror. "What? No! I didn't help her kill anyone… Wait, she killed someone? That's insane!"

"Garry, where's Melanie?"

"I don't know. Whom did she supposedly kill?"

"This isn't helping."

"I really don't know."

"Then tell us what you know." Kate commanded in a steely voice. She had the upper hand in this interrogation and she wasn't about to let it slip.

"Uh… Melanie and I… we are in love."

"You mean lust," Castle commented offhandedly.

"No, I mean love," came the firm reply. "I met Mel four years back. We had a business meeting. She attracted my attention because she had a huge bruise under her left eye. She had tried hard to cover it up with makeup but… I noticed. We talked and… Her husband is abusive and I was there for her. One thing led to another and… and we realized we were in love." Garry's voice was emotional.

"Doesn't change the fact that she was cheating on her husband… Why didn't she get a divorce?" Castle egged on.

"It's complicated. She… She is afraid of the bastard… She is afraid that Matt would hurt their daughter if she left him…" He looked up at Beckett. "I don't believe it is possible for her to hurt anyone. She can't murder anyone."

"We've evidence that proves Melanie was involved in her daughter's murder."

"Megan is dead? Oh my God!"

"We found her DNA at the crime scene."

"Impossible!"

"Where were you yesterday between 11 am and 2 pm?"

"At the airport. I was waiting for her. She never showed up. I waited until our flight left. I tried her on her cell phone. I called at her office. She was unreachable. So, I went to went back to my office. I was there until six in the evening."

"You didn't wonder if anything was wrong when she didn't show up?"

"No. I figured that her husband must've stopped her somehow… Also, her daughter was sick the night before. I thought maybe her condition had deteriorated and Mel didn't get a chance to convey the message."

"We'll need to verify your alibi."

"Feel free. I've told you the truth. And for the record, I think you're blaming the wrong person for Megan's death."

Beckett pursed her lips. "That'll be all, Mr. Douglas but don't leave town."

(…..)

"We've put out an APB on Melanie Williams. So far nothing has popped out. No air tickets, no transaction, nothing…" Ryan reported.

"That's odd. Melanie knows people will start looking for her when she doesn't return tomorrow. She must be hiding. What about her bank records? She must have cash with her if she isn't using her card. Any large withdrawal in the last seven days?"

"No."

"Let's go over her emails once again. There might be people other than Garry Douglas willing to help her."

Two hours later, the four of them sat in the conference room, tired and bored. They had gone over every letter, every punctuation mark, yet they had not discovered anything new.

"This is hopeless…" Castle broke the silence first. "There's nothing in here. Everything is about business except the mails to Garry."

Kate sighed, "Yeah… Did you guys question the secretary?" She looked at the other two detectives.

"Yeah, we did. She didn't seem to know anything. Besides, she has a strong alibi. She was at a parent-teacher conference at her son's school."

Esposito's phone chimed. He looked at it for a moment. "Garry Douglas just alibied out… The airport security cams show him waiting until mid-day. Office records show he was back there for the rest of the day."

"There's nothing we can do at the moment, Beckett," Ryan said, "we've to wait for a hit on the APB."

"Why don't we call it a night, guys? If she's in the city, we'll know when we get a hit. Otherwise, we'll have to wait and see if she returns." Castle volunteered.

Ryan and Esposito looked at Beckett expectantly who nodded in resignation. The two detectives left.

"Kate…"

"Castle, I'm not leaving until we hear about Melanie."

"Kate, there's nothing you can do."

"Castle, a daughter has been murdered by her mother. The thought alone makes me nauseous."

"I know. But there's nothing you can do. Please." He stood up.

"Castle…"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Come on, at least let me buy you dinner."

Kate huffed. "You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"

"Never. We're partners, remember?"

She looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face. She stood up slowly and picked up her jacket. "Let's go."

They walked out of the room to the elevator. Once inside, she turned to face him. "Partners… Is that what we are, Rick?"

Castle swallowed. He remembered having a similar conversation with her before and that had been a horrible one. This question was like a landmine… you trip, you blow everything up. He took a moment to compose his answer. "No, we are more than that… but whatever we are, we're also partners. I've got your back, Kate. I'll always have your back." He looked at her, silently pleading her to understand what he meant.

They stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other. Suddenly, Kate leaned in and kissed his lips lightly before straightening up again. They didn't break their eye contact until the elevator came to a stop and they heard the door ding open.

"Thank you, Rick," she whispered before walking out of the elevator.

**(…)**

_**(The following part contains "M" Rated material not suitable for underage readers. You've been warned)**_

They came back to Kate's apartment after dinner.

The front door to the apartment opened and they stumbled inside. Kate closed the door and turned to face her living room. She found Rick standing close to her… In fact, too close. She could smell his cologne.

"Rick," she whispered, straining to see his face in the semi-darkness.

Before a moment passed, she felt his lips touch hers lightly. It deepened when an involuntary moan escaped her throat. His tongue ran over her lips, tasting her, demanding entry. Her lips obliged and parted. He traced the contour of her teeth, the moist softness of her tongue. She tasted like wine.

"Kate… oh, Kate!" he whispered into her mouth as he pressed her against the door.

Her breath shuddered when his lips left hers and trailed down on her neck instead. Before she realized it, her hand was under his shirt, feeling the warm firmness of the muscles of his back. Her nails dug into his back when he bit at the hollow of her neck. Her hips ground against his and her core heated up when she felt his male hardness against her thigh.

Her hands came away from his back to rest on his chest. Before she knew what she was doing, she had unbuttoned his shirt. She felt his hand tugging at the hem of her top. She allowed him to pull the garment off her.

_We're like eager college kids, _she thought to herself. She didn't mind. Actually, she loved it.

She tugged on his belt and after a swift fluid motion of her wrist, the belt fell on the ground with a clank. She felt her own jeans being pushed down her legs. She wiggled until her pants were at her ankles. She stepped out of them and also kicked off her heels.

Castle took the opportunity to shrug off the shirt that was now hanging on his shoulders. He groaned when he felt her fingers popping open the button of his trousers.

There was nothing gentle, nothing soft as they undressed each other blindly in the dark. There was something very wild, very primitive about their actions. It was a flurry of motion of hands and tongues as they were immersed in the eroticism of the moment.

They stood facing each other, barely clad in their underwear. He dipped his head and snuggled in her cleavage. He could smell the faint scent of cherries mixed with her sweat. It drove him wild. He couldn't hold off any further. As he sucked on her milky skin, he felt her fingers curl into fists around his hair. Her long, slender legs were wrapped around his waist.

"Rick," her voice was hoarse with desire, "take me to bed."

He didn't need to be asked twice. He moved across the dark room. Kate was still wrapped around his waist and they were engaged in a frantic kiss. When Castle stumbled against the bed, he felt her smile against his lips. It turned into a squeak when he lost his balance and they fell on the bed.

"You okay?" He asked wearily.

Instead of an answer, he heard her giggle. _Kate Beckett giggled._ "Very smooth, Castle."

"Don't laugh," Castle growled into her ear. He felt her shiver.

"Or else what?" Her musical voice still held the playfulness but it was breathy.

"Or else you won't find how smooth I can be in my actions."

"Really? Are you bragging?" She laughed musically. "Very manly, Castle!"

He moved up until he was straddling her thighs. There was no way she couldn't feel his hard bulge against her soft flesh. "I don't think you'll doubt my manliness." He rubbed himself against her, slowly and deliberately.

Kate didn't respond because she had been robbed of her ability to think straight. "Oh…"

"What's wrong, detective? Are you okay? You seem out of breath!" He smiled before sliding her bra aside and running his tongue over her hardened nipples.

She couldn't reply. All came out of her throat was a guttural moan.

Castle didn't think their foreplay couldn't get any more erotic. He realized how wrong he was when he felt her fingers snake into his underwear and brush against him. His breath hitched in his throat.

He heard her breathy chuckle. "What's wrong, writer? Are you okay? You seem out of breath!"

Of course, she'd be competitive in bed. This was going to be interesting… The thought however flew out of his head when he felt her nails rake against his sensitive skin. "Kate!" He hissed out, "Stop unless you… unless you want this to be over before it starts."

She could hear the urgency in his voice. She smiled but it turned into a gasp when she felt his lips close around her areola while his fingers brushed against her moist core. She whimpered when she felt his fingers part her nether lips.

"Rick, don't tease me."

"What do you want me to do, Kate?" His voice vibrated against the soft mound of her breasts and traveled instantly to her core.

"You know what I want."

"Tell me."

Kate sighed impatiently. She was done teasing and being teased. "Take me, Rick."

And then the dam of their pent up sexual tension broke.

_**A/N 2: Okay, we all needed Caskett. Admit it :P Still, I didn't go into details except that of their foreplay because I know that adventurous teenagers will hardly stop reading on my advice. Hell, I know many of them read M rated stories, whom am I kidding? But that doesn't mean I'll shirk my responsibilities.**_

_**Tell me if you liked it. I'll be waiting for your reviews.**_

_**Thank you bones35, crazy4castle, Lauren Pannell, sophiadelancy, Imhereforthestory, Rosie85, Hunger4Books, gloriajv, tiff098765.**_

_**Tiff098765, your review made me laugh… I almost made you late for church! God, I'll be burning in hell for a loooong time :D**_

_**Gloria, you're right about the social prejudice part… No wonder Kate wanted to slap her ;)**_

_**Disclaimer: My earnest wish in life is to meet Stana Katic at least once before I die… You still think I own Castle?**_


	9. Chapter 9

Even as she oscillated between reality and her dreams, she felt herself cocooned in the warmth of his body. As she came to consciousness, she looked at the man sleeping peacefully beside her. She felt the weight of his arm over her naked abdomen comforting.

She turned slowly on her side to face him, careful not to wake him up. She watched him sleep for a few minutes. She smiled and snuggled further into him. Gently, she brushed away the dark tufts of hair covering his forehead. Not being able to stop, she propped herself up on her elbow and touched his lips lightly with hers.

"Mmm… This is a good way to wake up." He mumbled sleepily, his eyes still closed.

She couldn't agree more. "It is." She kissed him on his lips before sitting up.

"What time is it?"

"Fifteen past five."

"It's early." His hand snaked around her waist, pulling her back to bed. "Don't get up yet."

Kate debated for a moment. After all, she was a morning person. She always woke up early. She couldn't do without her early morning jogging… but maybe, her, umm… 'activities'… last night would more than make up for the lack of exercise this morning. Her body felt deliciously sore. She didn't want to leave her spot beside him anyway. _God, that sounded sappy, _she thought to herself.

She flopped back on the bed unceremoniously. She looked at him and smiled, "Good morning."

He smiled back. His eyes were a clear shade of blue in the morning. "Good morning, sweetheart."

Kate grinned. "Sweetheart, huh?"

"Yeah… you don't like it?"

"Hmm…" she pretended to think. "I don't like pet names usually…" She trailed off but resumed when she took in the deflated look on his face. "… but I think I'm willing to make an exception."

A blinding smile immediately broke out on Castle's face. She could feel a smile creep along her lips in return. She couldn't help but kiss him, yet again. Soon, it turned intense.

They were interrupted when they heard Kate's phone vibrating on the bedside table.

"Jeez, won't your phone ever leave us alone?"

Kate closed her eyes and sighed in exasperation. She rolled over to get her phone. "Beckett. Yeah. What? Okay, we'll be right there." She hung up the phone but didn't look at Castle. She sat motionless on the bed, clad only in her sheets.

"Kate, what's wrong?"

"They found Melanie Williams."

"That's good news…"

"She's dead."

(…)

"A few people complained about foul stench in this area. The patrol unit found a body lying in the ditch at five this morning. They recognized her from the police bulletin." Ryan filled them up.

Kate nodded and proceeded towards Lanie. Castle followed, as usual.

They stopped, however, when Esposito called out from behind them, "Did you guys come to the scene together?"

"Uh…" Castle opened his mouth first, mostly out of habit but he didn't have a clue about what to say. He turned his head and looked at Beckett.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Yes, I picked him up from his apartment."

Ryan looked at the duo suspiciously. "You never pick Castle up. Why today?"

"Maybe you guys haven't noticed but it's still daybreak. Castle's loft was on the way. So… Now if it is okay with you two girls, we're going to talk to Lanie."

"We… Did you just refer to yourself and Castle as 'we'?" Esposito asked.

Castle turned to answer but Kate cut him off, "Don't dignify that with a response, Castle."

Ryan turned to Esposito, "Did you see that, bro? They're definitely hiding something."

"Hmm…" Esposito nodded in agreement with furrowed brows.

They almost gagged when the stench from the body hit them.

"Lanie, what did you find?" Kate asked through the handkerchief firmly pressed on her nostrils.

"You mean other than the stinker here?" Lanie sounded pissed off and Kate didn't blame her. No one liked crouching beside a half decomposed body and poking and prodding the putrified masses of human tissue, looking for evidence at the crack of dawn.

She decided to keep her reply short, "Yeah."

"All I can say at the moment is that the body is in advanced stage of decomposition. Taking into account the weather and environment of the ditch, I'm guessing the body is at least thirty six hours old. Looks like Melanie Williams but I'll need DNA and fingerprints to confirm. COD appears to be blunt force trauma to the head… Looks like a depressed comminuted skull fracture… which is good news."

"For us, I assume? Because, the victim definitely doesn't look happy." Castle spoke over Beckett's shoulders.

"If you need to make smart ass comments, I recommend that you come down into the ditch and stand here in knee deep muck." Lanie scowled.

"Someone's testy today." Castle muttered through the corner of his mouth before backing off.

Beckett came back to the point. "Why is it good news?"

"It means we can visualize the pattern of the murder weapon and possibly get a cast. I can tell you more once I'm back to the lab."

"Okay… Thanks a lot, Lanie."

"You're welcome, Beckett. What a start to the day!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, Lanie. See you at the Morgue."

Lanie nodded.

Half an hour later Castle and Beckett were in the car, driving back to the Precinct.

"Well, I'm glad that not everyone had a bad start to the day." Castle commented softly.

"Yeah, about that… Castle, can you please be… discrete about… _us?"_ She caught the look on Castle's face. "I'm not trying to hide it or anything… I just want to avoid people fussing over it. Let us keep this to ourselves for the time being. Is that okay with you?"

Castle had never seen Kate so hesitant, so uncertain about anything. Well, it wasn't really a surprise that Kate wanted to keep it a secret. She wasn't exactly the kind of person to update her relationship status on Facebook.

"Well, if you say so… Too bad, I was thinking about tweeting about us."

Kate's snapped her head and looked at him incredulously.

Castle raised his hands in air in mock surrender, "Kidding, just kidding."

Kate turned her attention back to the road.

After a moment, Castle chuckled. He elaborated when she looked at him enquiringly. "Actually, it'll be a good thing if we keep this to ourselves for now. I don't want Ryan to lose money before his big wedding."

"There's a bet." Beckett commented offhandedly but her tone was ominous.

"Yes…" Castle wondered if he had put his foot in his mouth. "But of course you knew about that too, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. But I unlike you, I haven't been keeping track of it."

"What can I do, Kate? Curious minds want to know." He shrugged.

"Yeah, right…" She rolled her eyes.

(…)

"We've gone over everything about Melanie already, Beckett."

"Yeah but at that time Melanie was our suspect. Now she's our victim. Things have changed. Maybe we've overlooked something."

"Okay, we're going over everything once more." Ryan and Esposito headed over to the conference room to go over the file once again.

Beckett sat down on her chair, looking at the newly modified data on her murder board. The mother's photo had been displaced from the suspect column to the victim column and somehow that affected her.

"We were blaming her for Megan's murder and all this time she was already dead." Kate shook her head.

"Kate, there was no way we could know."

"I know," she took in a deep breath. "I'm thinking about potential suspects… Gary for one... I can't think of anyone else… And then there's Matt, of course."

"But Matt's alibi checked out, remember?" Castle asked wearily. "His keycard activities showed that he was indeed at the office."

"Yeah, but that was for Megan. We still don't know when Melanie was killed… It couldn't have been the secretary… She was at office all day, managing the office in Melanie's absence. You know what, Castle? I think we should go and talk to Matt again. Maybe he can tell us about someone we're overlooking."

"Wait…" Castle's brow furrowed. "Look at Gary's statements that day at the interrogation."

Kate sat up, interested. "What about it?"

"Gary said he waited until their flight left… and then he went back to his office."

"Yeah… So?"

"Their flight was scheduled at noon and Gary's swipe card activity is at 1 pm. But his office at the 22nd Street… It couldn't have taken more than fifteen minutes to reach his office."

"But apparently it took him an hour."

"Exactly… maybe he made a little detour on his way back."

Kate nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe he was upset that Melanie had cancelled their trip without notice… Let's pick up Garry again."

_**A/N: Hi guys, I know this is a short chapter but I'm really tired but I needed to get this done.**_

_**I loved Cuffed! It was light and fun… I had imagined that the midseason finale would be a bit dramatic but clearly I was wrong. Not that I'm complaining!**_

_**Hey, they talked about Kate's competitiveness and hours earlier, I had written about it in the last chapter! Strange coincidence but I win, ha! (Not that you care but I wanna brag *shrugs*)**_

_**Thank you so much for reading. Please review. Thanks to everyone who have reviewed so far. **_

_**A few of your PMs and emails haven't been answered but I'll do it as soon as I can, I promise.**_

_**Welcome to new reader & reviewer, contrite shadow. About your criticism, I want to point out the fact that while the passage in Italics was from the victim's point of view, they were not exactly the victim's last thoughts. They were a mixture of her actions, experiences and thoughts in the final moments of her life. Besides, when someone is suffering from a disease for sixteen years, she can be expected to pick up a term or two from her doctor over the repeated visits. If you still think it is odd, I hope you can excuse it :)**_

_**Disclaimer: No… No… No… Sadly, no.**_


	10. Chapter 10

Matt sighed and shook his head resignedly. He wasn't even crying. It looked like he didn't have any tears left.

Kate and Rick exchanged concerned glances when he smiled instead. "You know, two days ago, at this time, my concerns in life were so simple. I wanted Megan to recover, I wanted Melanie not to leave… just wanted my life to be functional again. And now? They're both dead. My sixteen year old daughter had sex with a guy in our house. My wife was cheating on me. Tell me, is this really happening? Is any of this really happening?"

Castle placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid so, Matt."

"Oh God! Why me?" He buried his hand in his palms.

"Can you think of anyone who could've hurt your wife?"

"No… no… I hardly know anyone from her work. She kept everything to herself. Have you checked the man she was sleeping with?"

"We're looking into it."

Matt raked his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry. This is too much. I need to be alone."

"We understand, Mr. Williams. Castle, let's go."

Beckett and Castle were walking out of the room when Matt called out. "Detective, you'll catch the bastard who did this, right?"

Kate took in a deep breath before replying. "I promise."

(…)

"Why are we here again, Detective? Did you find Melanie?"

Gary was sitting in the interrogation room just as before. Only this time, he seemed to have aged inexplicably over the past few hours. His blue eyes looked dull and sunken. His chin was beginning to show signs of grey stubble. His snow white hair was disheveled. A frown was permanently fixed on his forehead so firmly that Castle wondered if he would have to iron out the wrinkle later. The earlier calm demeanor was gone and he appeared fidgety. The expensive suit failed to cover his otherwise haggard appearance.

Beckett stood with her back to the the observation glass. She watched Gary's face closely. Either he was innocent or he was playing a dangerous game.

"Yes, we found her," she replied.

"What did she say? Where was she? She didn't kill Megan, did she?"

"She's dead," Beckett said quietly.

"Oh God! Mel is dead? How did she die? Who killed her?" He looked shocked. _Either he really didn't know or he deserved the Oscar, _Castle noted.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

"Actually, I think _you have no idea_ what you're doing." Anger seemed to bubble up suddenly inside Gary. "First, Megan is dead. You suspect Mel. You suspect _a mother_ to be her child's killer. Then your suspect turns up dead. What are you going to do next? Frame me? Is that why I'm here?" His voice rose.

Beckett didn't leave her spot even as Castle glared at Gary Douglas.

"We believe that Melanie was killed at approximately the same time as the Megan, maybe half an hour earlier. Tell me Mr. Douglas, where were you between 11 am and 2 pm?"

"I already told you," he answered through gritted teeth.

Castle jumped into the conversation. "Yes, you said that you waited until your flight left at noon and then you came back to your office at one."

"That's right."

"What were you doing in the mean time?"

"What do you mean?"

"What he means is, why did you need one hour to travel a distance that needs fifteen minutes at most?"

"Oh! I was at a bar, at the corner of 22nd."

"For an hour?"

"Yes… I had nothing to do. I was sad that Mel didn't turn up. So I went in for a couple of drinks."

"So, you went back to work drunk?"

"No, a couple of drinks don't make me drunk."

"Mr. Douglas, can anyone verify that you were at the bar?"

"I don't know. Ask the bartender."

"We've a better way. Right as we speak, uniforms are searching your car."

"What? No way! You can't do that."

"Actually, we can." Beckett handed him a search warrant for his car.

Gary read the sheet of paper before closing his eyes and flopping back on his chair. "What exactly do you expect to find in my car, detective?"

"The murder weapon." Once Gary jerked upright, she proceeded to elaborate. "Melanie was killed by a blow to the head. From the fracture pattern, the M.E concluded that she was hit with a double hexagonal twelve point socket range. Such ranges are used to change tires."

"Yeah, you'll find a socket range in my car. Twelve point. But you'll find the same range in any car of the same brand. It doesn't prove anything."

"Not if your range has trace evidence on it."

"You won't find any…"

"Because you've already disposed it off?"

"Because I didn't kill Melanie." He practically yelled.

A soft knock sounded on the door and Kate excused herself. A CSU official handed her a socket range in an evidence bag.

"Okay, so this was found in your car."

"I told you, I own it."

"Just hope for your own sake that it doesn't bear Melanie's DNA." Castle smiled vindictively.

Gary Douglas stared back defiantly. "Don't worry. It won't. Melanie might not have been my wife but I loved her... I'm mourning as much as if not more than that bastard of her husband. You think _I _killed the woman I loved? May you rot in hell," he spat.

The detective and her partner walked out of the interrogation room just as the uniforms walked in to take Gary Douglas into holding.

"I hope this yields something," Beckett sighed, nodding to the only piece of evidence in her hand.

"Come on, Beckett. We know it's him. Our victim had an extramarital affair with Gary. They were supposed to meet at the airport but she didn't show up. Suspect has a sketchy alibi. He uses the same kind of wrench as the one that has been used for murder. That's a no-brainer."

"That's a conjecture, Castle. If we don't find a trace on it, we can't prove anything. He is right. Anyone who owns a car might own the wrench."

"But what would be their motive?"

"I don't know, Castle. I don't know… But this is not substantial enough for the jury."

"But he does have a problem with his temper," Castle pointed out.

"Or maybe he is mourning." Beckett shrugged.

She returned the evidence bag to the CSU official and walked off to her desk.

"Yo Beckett, we went over the case file, _yet again, _as you wanted. Nothing. Victim had a clean childhood. No shady activities, no illegal connections. In fact, just like her daughter, the mother had very few connections. We couldn't think of anyone else as a potential suspect, other than the husband and the lover."

"Well, the husband has an alibi." Castle commented.

"Ryan, check if it is possible to enter or leave Matt's office without a keycard."

"On it…"

"Kate, you don't think Matt could've killed his family, do you?"

"Castle, you should know by now that anything is possible."

"Wrong! There are so many things that are impossible… like the sun rising in the west…"

Kate cut him off, "… or the aliens invading our planet."

"Hey, that's not true. Alien invasion is possible."

"Yeah, right!" She rolled her eyes.

"It _is _possible," Castle stated in mock indignation.

"What is possible, Castle?" Esposito walked up to them.

"Never mind him, Esposito. You know Castle and his crazy theories."

"What's it this time, bro? The CIA or the mafia?" Esposito chuckled

"Hey, this is not fair. You've brainwashed the guys against me!" Castle whined.

Esposito turned to Beckett. "You know, Beckett… I was thinking…"

"Espo, do you realize that you sound uncannily like Castle?" Kate deadpanned.

"What? No! I was just wondering how the mother's DNA was found on the daughter. Maybe the mother killed the daughter and then someone killed the mother…."

"You know what? This sounds like one of Castle's theories."

"Hey, my theories make sense."

"Esposito, Lanie said that the mother was probably killed earlier, remember?"

"Yeah… but that isn't certain… Look, why would Gary kill the daughter?"

"Maybe the daughter witnessed her mother's murder?" Castle theorized. "Gary couldn't leave behind a witness, could he? And about DNA, maybe the mother's blood got splattered on his shirt when her skull cracked and then Megan clawed out a chunk of the cloth during struggle. They show it on CSI all the time."

Esposito shook his head while Beckett rolled her eyes but neither of them said anything. Castle had a point.

(…..)

"So Kate, how long do you plan on sitting here?"

Kate had zoned out while staring at the murder board. Castle was playing Angry Birds on his phone. He looked up at Kate as his voice broke the silence.

"Castle, you can go home if you like."

"I know. I was asking how long _you _plan to sit here."

"Well…"

"Kate, we've already made an arrest. The crime lab report will not be in tonight. What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing… I was just thinking."

"Thinking what?"

"Gary seemed pretty sure that we wouldn't find any DNA on the wrench. He must've gotten rid of the one he murdered Melanie with."

"Hmm..."

"We need more evidence or a confession. We need to build this case and without DNA, we only have a socket range that's too common and a man who denies of any wrongdoing. The court will throw it out long before it goes to trial."

"Kate, I think we should take a break. Look at it with fresh eyes. Come on, let's go for a burger." He held out his hand.

He was surprised when she took his hand and lifted herself off the chair. "Okay. You know how to disrupt people's work." She grumbled but her voice didn't hold malice.

(…..)

They walked out of the precinct and onto the street.

"So, Remy's?" Castle turned to look at her.

Kate nodded with a smile.

He kept staring at her. Her hair caught the streetlight at an odd angle and she looked beautiful. He felt his heart increase its pace.

"What?" She asked him curiously.

"You are beautiful," he almost whispered.

Her smile widened. "You're not so bad yourself, Rick. Now let's start walking before someone knocks us off the sidewalk." She tried to act nonchalant but even under the neon haze, he could see the blush creeping up her neck and spreading to her cheeks. Was she thinking about last night just as he was?

He didn't want to spoil the moment. So he kept quiet and started walking but not before taking the pretty detective's hands in his. He smiled when he felt her fingers tighten around his.

Just as they were about to enter Remy's, Castle's phone chimed. He brought it out of his pocket with his other hand. Waiting for him was a text message from Alexis.

_I need to talk to you Daddy. Now. Urgent._

"What's wrong, Rick?" she asked when she took in his facial expression.

"It's from Alexis."

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know… She says she needs to talk to me… She says it's urgent."

"Then go and talk to her"

"What could be so urgent that she called me Daddy? She doesn't call me Daddy anymore."

"Castle, stop playing a detective and go back to your daughter. You'll know soon enough."

"What if it's bad news? What if it's something I don't want to hear? What if she's moving in with that man? What if she's… Oh God! I can't even think." He was having a full fledged panic attack now.

"Then don't think. Maybe it's nothing that serious, okay? Calm down. Your daughter is a good girl, no matter what. Have faith in her."

"Yeah… Good girl… yeah…" He repeated after her blankly.

"Don't stand here. Go… and Rick, if you need any help, just call me, okay?"

She watched as he nodded gratefully and rushed off to hail a cab. She hated to think that the pleasant red headed teenager, Castle's "baby daughter" could be in any kind of trouble. If that boyfriend had anything to do with it, she would personally hunt down the bastard and throw him into prison. She was surprised when she realized what she was thinking. Since when did she start feeling so strongly about the girl? She didn't know and she didn't care.

_God, please let Alexis be alright._

_**A/N: Hey, how was it? Click on the blue link below and let me know. **_

_**Imhereforthestory, you want Kate to have a petname that fits… Let me know if you have a particular name in mind and I'll try to incorporate it in the story. If anyone else has a suggestion, please send it to me. I'll try to fit it in… as long as it fits :)**_

_**tiff098765, you are a detective ;) **_

_**crazy4castle, yeah, it gets even more mysterious for you… with a complementary cliffhanger :P**_

_**sophiadelancy, my mental connection with Mr. Marlowe isn't strong enough for him to offer me a job, even via telepathy :(**_

_**tfnmal23, I love that you like reading my stories.**_

_**Lauren Pannell, YOU, my dear, are incredible :)**_

_**Thanks to the other readers who read the story and those who liked it and commented on Facebook (Particularly Mrittika, who should be studying for her pre-board exams but still finds time to read my stories! All the best for your exams, friend!)**_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, I wouldn't have to go through the tedious hiatus until January 9, 2012 :(**_


	11. Chapter 11

_Come on… move faster, damn it! _He yelled, silently.

"What do you think this is? A fuckin' racing car? I'm going as fast as I can, man!" the cab driver replied, not so politely.

Okay, so he hadn't been silent after all. Castle couldn't think straight anymore. He was feeling sick. Alexis… what was wrong with Alexis? The girl wasn't talking to him for the past few days… And whenever they spoke, they fought.

The problem with having a vivid imagination is that the burning heat of hellfire seems too real. The same was happening with Castle. His mind was conjuring up images he didn't want to think about. He didn't want to think about the possibilities. There was something odd about the text… His little girl seemed troubled and vulnerable. He didn't know exactly how but he was certain that his daughter had been hurt… possibly by the Neanderthal who was the sole cause of distress and disruption in the past few weeks. All he wanted to know was how exactly he had hurt Alexis; how seriously the bastard had hurt his baby girl.

He didn't even wait for the cab to stop in front of his building fully before jumping out. He pushed a few dollar bills into the driver's hand and rushed inside. He didn't turn back to see the driver staring blankly at the ridiculously large tip… Not that Castle cared. He would burn all the money and sell his soul to the devil if that meant Alexis' happiness… His baby's well being was non-negotiable.

The elevator seemed to be unreasonably slow. Once in the hallway, he raced to the door of his loft. The more he hurried, the more he fumbled and each time he fumbled, he cursed himself. Managing to get the damn door open ultimately, he stumbled inside.

Alexis was sitting on the couch with her face red and puffy. It looked like she had been crying for the past few hours.

"Alexis! Pumpkin, what's wrong?"

She looked up and took in the concern on her father's face. Her heart broke some more and she started sobbing.

Castle hurried to sit by her side and pulled her in a hug. "What's wrong? You can tell me."

"I've screwed up badly." She sobbed on his shoulders.

"Just tell me, okay? I promise… I promise I'll not shout at you." He honestly hoped that he'd be able to keep his promise.

"I don't know how to say this… God, how could I be so stupid?"

As each moment passed, his panic multiplied exponentially. He didn't know how Alexis had screwed up and his mind ran over the worst possible scenarios. "Honey, you're not stupid. You're giving your old man a heart attack right now, but you're not stupid."

"I am stupid, dad. Why else would I hand over my ATM card to Wilson?"

"You did what?" Castle was confused. This was not what he had apprehended. He was almost tempted to sigh in relief.

Alexis mistook the surprise in his voice as incredulity. She hung her head low as she choked on her sobs.

"Pumpkin, I'm not following you. Can you take a deep breath and start from the beginning?"

It took the distraught girl a great deal of effort to calm herself down. After what seemed like endless hours, though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, she managed to stop her sobs. "Wilson has disappeared with my ATM card… and he has drained my bank account. Completely." She sniffled.

Castle knew he was supposed to have a stroke on receiving this news. He didn't. Instead, it suddenly seemed like someone had just lifted a ton of rocks off his chest. Yes, Alexis had enough money in her bank account to run a small family modestly for a few months at least. The financial loss had been significant. But it wasn't anything compared to the possibilities that had been swirling inside his head since he received her text. This was not about physical abuse. This wasn't about unwanted pregnancy. It wasn't about drugs or alcohol addiction. It wasn't about HIV. Alexis had not discovered that she had a terminal disease. No, this was about money… It was about something that was not lost irreversibly. It wasn't about anything irreplaceable. This could be fixed.

A sigh of relief escaped his lungs with a whoosh. He started laughing.

Alexis vacillated between shock, surprise and indignation. "Laugh at me as much as you want, Dad. I deserve it." Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What? No! I'm not laughing at you… Okay, maybe a little… You've surely inherited your grams' genes." He let out a small bark of laughter before behaving himself for his daughter's sake. "Your grams' husband, technically your grandpa, walked away with all her money… and now Wilson walks away with your money. It must be in the genes."

"I'm so sorry, Daddy."

"Hey, it's okay… I was so scared for you, Alexis. I got your text and… I was going crazy… I'm so glad that you're okay."

"I'm not okay, Daddy. How can I be? I feel so stupid."

"Hey, you're not stupid. Never say that. You're just naïve."

"How's that any better?"

"It is, Alexis. You'll bounce back in no time."

"You don't want to know what happened?"

"Sweetie, this thing is clearly distressing you. If you don't want to talk about it right now, it's fine. You can tell me later. We'll have to go to the police though. I'm sorry, Alexis but I want that jerk to be arrested… Not because he stole the money but because he broke your trust."

Alexis nodded solemnly. "I want him to be arrested, too… Because he stole the money."

"You wouldn't feel bad?"

"Feel bad for Will? I fought with _you_ for him and how did he repay? He betrayed me. I want him arrested." The red head replied vindictively.

Castle nodded and pulled her in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry that he hurt you, pumpkin. I'm so sorry." The bastard had not hurt her physically but he had broken her heart in the worst way possible. Castle would make sure that he paid for what he did to Alexis.

"I'm sorry too, Daddy. I fought with you for _him_. I'm so ashamed. It took me so long to see through him…"

There was something about Alexis calling him "Daddy" that always got to him. Castle and his daughter had always been close, as close as a father and a daughter could be. But even though she was her Daddy's girl, she always stood up on her own feet. She was not only smart but fiercely independent and self sufficient. She was not the kind of girl to wallow in her father's shadow or call him whenever she had a fight in school. She always loved to solve her own problems and she was quite capable of that. She was responsible. Even though she was always surrounded by wealth and flashing cameras and half naked girls, she always had her head on her shoulders and her feet were always firmly planted on the ground. Maybe that's why when she actually broke down, when she allowed herself to be vulnerable, it broke Castle's heart… just like it broke his heart when Kate broke down.

Maybe Alexis and Kate were not much different. One grew up without a mother while the other's mother was murdered. Yeah, Castle had never been an alcoholic but there were times when he had behaved immaturely, when he had let Alexis down. Instead of imitating her father and getting spoilt, she behaved responsibly. She encouraged him to be a better father, a better person just like Kate had done to her father. Both of them knew how to have fun but both of them let their hair down only occasionally… and now, Alexis' heart had been badly broken. He wondered briefly if Alexis would build the same kind of wall around her heart as Kate had. Maybe the wall was already there… after all, she hardly acted like a teenager.

Anyway, now was not the time to think about it. In any case, he would always be there… for Alexis and for Kate… for the girl who was more valuable than his life and the woman he loved with his life.

Alexis had stopped crying. She sighed against his shoulders. "You're not going to hate me, are you?" Her voice was so small and insecure that Castle's heart broke afresh.

"How could you think like that, Alexis? I'll never hate you… You're my baby girl. No one hurts my baby girl." He tightened his hug. "I think you should rest, honey. Tomorrow, we'll talk about what exactly happened, alright?"

"No, I need to get this out… now."

"Okay then, I'm listening." He kept his arm around her shoulders to make her feel comfortable.

"I went out with him today… At the restaurant, I asked him to hold my purse while I needed to use the rest room. When I came out, he gave me the purse back… Nothing seemed out of place. But then he excused himself early saying he had received an urgent call from his mother… I… I didn't even think anything. Only later when I needed the ATM card, I found out that it was missing… I checked my account balance online and… everything is gone." She sniffled again.

"How did he know your PIN?"

"I don't know… He must have noticed earlier. I don't know."

Castle sighed. "Are you sure it's Wilson? You could've dropped the card somewhere…"

"It's Will… I tried calling him and he is unreachable… It's like he has disappeared off the face of the earth. Besides, have I ever dropped my ATM card before? I shouldn't have trusted him. What was I thinking?"

"Hey, look, I agree that it wasn't your smartest move but you've learnt your lesson, haven't you? That's what counts."

"Dad, I think that's not enough. I need to be grounded."

"At eighteen? I thought you were an adult!"

"I hardly acted as one."

"Okay… You're grounded… for how long?"

"A year!"

"A year? Let's keep it realistic… A week."

"A month."

"Okay a month."

"And no shopping or unnecessary expenditure during the time," Alexis insisted.

"Okay," Castle shrugged. He didn't really care what she decided because he would force her out of her self-imposed exile anyway. As long as his daughter realized where she went wrong, he didn't mind. He never believed in punishments.

"And we'll file a police report first thing tomorrow morning."

"As you wish, pumpkin. But I really think you should get some rest now. You've had a bad day."

"Okay dad…" She hugged him once more before getting up from the couch. "You're the best. I'm so sorry… for everything."

"Don't worry, you're the best daughter a father can have. Just don't cut me off again… I really missed you." He closed his eyes and patted her back before releasing her.

Alexis smiled shyly at her father before heading upstairs.

Castle smiled. His baby girl was back… and she was still the old soul who insisted on grounding herself. The bridge between them wasn't broken anymore. Everything was going to be fine.

(…..)

He checked his phone before flopping down on his bed. A text message from Kate Beckett awaited him.

_You didn't call. Hope everything is fine._

He smiled. He wasn't expecting a text from Kate but of course, she would worry… She could play the role of a tough cop as much as she wanted but it was no secret that she was a caring woman. He typed back, _Boyfriend conned Alexis out of all her money. She is unhappy but okay._

He waited for a minute before his phone buzzed again. _That's awful. Have you reported it? _That was a fast reply. He wondered if Kate was waiting by her phone for his reply… Well, it was an egoistic thing to assume but then, how else could she reply so promptly?

_Police report first thing tomorrow morning. She's upset. Where are you? _He really wanted to know. He wouldn't put it past Kate to go back to the precinct after he rushed off.

It took a little longer this time before the phone buzzed. _At home in bed. Was waiting for your reply. Goodnight. _

Rick almost groaned. Did she really need to create that picture for him? Now that he had real experience to go with his vivid imagination, the erotic images forming in his brain were too hard to ward off. He hesitated for a moment, debating if typing what he had on his mind would make him seem too clingy. He decided to go with the truth. _Thank you for being there. Miss you. Good night._

Before he closed his eyes, he prayed to God or whatever superpower was up there, "Kate is the best thing that has happened to me after Alexis. Please don't let me mess this up."

(…..)

It was eight thirty in the morning when Castle's phone rang.

Though it was early by his standards, he was already up. He was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Even without looking at the caller id, he knew who was calling. "Good morning! For Rick Castle, press one." He answered the call cheerfully.

"Don't sound so happy, Castle." Kate sounded grumpy.

He sobered up immediately. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Everything. The wrench came back clean."

"Oh… Don't worry, we'll find another piece of evidence against Gary."

"We won't. The bartender at 22nd just confirmed his alibi. And yeah, Ryan found out there was no way Matt could've got out of the office without his keycard. So we're currently without a suspect. We're back to square one."

"Hey, we'll find out the killer."

"How, Castle? You know Gates… She won't blink before declaring the case cold." She sounded frustrated.

"Kate, we will catch this guy. I promise." He looked up to see Alexis coming down the stairs. "Alexis is up… I've got to go. Is it alright if I reach the Precinct an hour late? I mean… we'll have to go to the 18th for filing a report…"

"Yeah… yeah… sure, Castle. Take care of Alexis. See you later. Bye."

Alexis perched herself up on a stool by the kitchen counter. "Was that Detective Beckett?"

"Yes, Alexis."

"You were talking about a case, weren't you?"

"Yeah… We've a case where everyone is a suspect and yet, everyone has alibied out."

"Oh… sounds intriguing," Alexis commented while pouring orange juice for herself.

"Yeah, except now we have a killer to catch and no suspect."

"If it were not for me, you could've been at the Precinct by now." The red head's voice was grim.

"Pumpkin, have you ever seen me wake up before nine for going to the precinct?"

"Dad! I've seen you pull all nighters… and I've seen you go to crime scenes at five…"

"It's okay, really. First thing first… We need to file a report about your missing ATM card."

"Yeah… I still don't know how he got the PIN… I wish they needed our fingerprints for cash withdrawal… Just because it's my card doesn't mean it's me!" She sighed.

Castle smiled but suddenly turned serious when something struck him. "Just because it's your card doesn't mean it's you… That's it! I need to go to the precinct now." He scrambled out of the kitchen.

"But Dad…"

"Police report, I know… The card is in my name anyway… Don't worry, I'll file a report. Bye pumpkin, stay safe."

He was already dialing Kate's number by the time he was heading into the elevator. He heard the familiar voice at the other end of the line. "What is it, Castle?"

"Kate, I know who the killer is!"

_**A/N: So now you know who the killer is! Ha! In case Alexis seems a little OOC, I don't think she is. She is a teenager after all. She maybe supermature and stuff but she is allowed to act her age once in a while. The guy she was in love with was seven years older than her. He knew how to act so that the poor girl got completely swept off her feet. And he swept off her money… There have been times when I've asked my friends to hold my purse while I needed to use the restroom. Looking back, that wasn't my smartest move… Anyway, I haven't been ever cheated that way, so everything is fine.**_

_**I know I took some time to upload this chapter but I had a lot of things going on in my life… I started writing again once I felt sane.**_

_**Lady Ailith, now you know who the murderer is ;)**_

_**Lauren Pannell, when I was watching "Cuffed" I was like "F*** the tiger and kiss already!" Yeah, Kate waking up to find Rick beside her and she smiles like that! How awesome is that? I wish Castle did a more thorough search for needle marks though :P Fantastic episode and a promise… Next time they'll do without the tiger!**_

_**Sophiadelancy, I did a happy dance too when I read your review :)**_

_**Tiff098567, you're probably like "I knew it!" **_

_**Crazy4castle, Alexis is the one who unknowingly breaks the case… yet again!**_

_**Imhereforthestory, here is your next update! I'll keep your suggested pet name in mind… and try to add a few of my own ;)**_

_**Friends, please please review this chapter. It'll mean a lot to me.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own Castle, Andrew Marlowe, Terri Miller, Nathan Fillion, Seamus Dever, Jon Huertas, Tamala Jones and most importantly, Stana Katic… And as you can probably guess, I'm drunk and stoned. **_


	12. Chapter 12

It was Matt Williams' first time inside the interrogation room. The man appeared calm and he looked around, vaguely interested.

Castle was pacing outside the room, keyed up. Beckett did what she always did… She watched the suspect through the glass.

"Castle, unless you tone your excitement down, you're not going in."

"Yeah, right. Sorry." He came to a standstill beside her but continued to fidget.

"Let's go in."

The detective and her shadow entered the room.

"Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle, I was surprised when you called. Have you figured out who the killer is?"

Castle opened his mouth to answer but stopped when Beckett elbowed him in his ribs. "Yes, we have," she replied pleasantly.

"Who is he? Is it the boyfriend?"

"Well, we'll know for sure shortly. In the mean time, we need you to answer a few questions."

"Sure, go ahead," Matt sat back on his chair. He was so casual that a bystander could easily mistake the interrogation for a chat at a tea party.

"Mr. Williams, where were you between 11 am and 2 pm on the day your daughter was murdered?"

"Why are you asking me this, again?"

"We need to get all the facts straight."

For the thousandth time in his life, Castle marveled at Kate's ability to lie, or in this case conceal the truth, with a straight face. She would've been a hell of a poker player… Hell, he had already known that when she beat Castle's pants off the last time they played poker. He didn't mind though, he loved the sexy smirk she shot at him every time she beat him.

Matt's voice brought him back to the present. "I was at my office, detective."

"Throughout the entire period of time?"

"I was at office until five."

"That's interesting… because your credit card shows transaction at a gas station on I-78 at 3 pm on the day. That's fifteen minutes away from the ditch where your wife's body was found."

"My… my credit card was stolen."

"You didn't file a complaint."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I've a lot going on in my life right now. I didn't get a chance." Matt crossed his arms on his chest and stared at her defiantly.

"Your project manager says he didn't see you at office that day."

"So? He doesn't babysit me."

"So, we did a little digging," Castle replied. "We found something interesting. It was your day off. Apparently, you had an appointment with a doctor."

"Your friend, Mr. Howard Winters, has some even more interesting information. He reached office and found out that he had forgotten his keycard. He couldn't afford to go back home for his card as he had an important meeting in less than an hour. You live near your office and he knew you had taken the day off… So he came to your home to borrow your keycard. He says, when he knocked on your door, he heard you yelling at your wife." Beckett leaned forward, "Matt, you lied to us the whole time. Admit it."

"Howie is lying, obviously! Ungrateful bastard!"

"We knew you'd say that. So we already cross checked his story. His keycard shows no activity that day but his department head does remember seeing him at the meeting. On the other hand, you had your day off but your card shows activity… That and your credit card place you near the scene of crime right in the window of your wife's murder. Oh, by the way, we have records to prove that you hacked into your wife's email. You knew she was having an affair. If you still insist, we could check with your doctor and prove that you didn't really have an appointment…" Castle's voice was smug.

Matt looked sick but that didn't put a dent on his bravado. "It… it doesn't prove anything. It shows that I lied… to you and to my boss. That doesn't prove that I killed my wife… or Megan."

Beckett nodded. "You're right, it doesn't. But this will." She handed him a search warrant for his home and car. "The CSU are sweeping for evidence in your car… and your home… We do believe that you used your car to dump your wife's body. We'll find enough evidence. We might even find the murder weapon."

"You can't prove anything. Every car has a wrench in its tool box. I didn't kill anyone."

There was silence in the room for a brief moment. "Mr. Williams, we never told you that the murder weapon was a wrench."

He paled. "This still wouldn't prove that I killed Megan."

"So you admit that you killed Melanie?" Castle asked.

"I'm not admitting anything. You can't tie me down to anything." He attempted to sound confident but failed miserably.

Kate leaned forward and looked right into his eyes. "Oh, trust me; we will tie you down to every murder you have committed." Her voice rang with conviction.

Matt stared back at her stubbornly. "I'm done talking. I want a lawyer. Now."

(….)

"So, the CSU officials found the wife's blood in his car, huh?" Ryan asked while reaching out for a piece of pizza.

The four of them were relaxing in the break room. Castle had ordered an extra large pizza. Esposito had appeared with a case of ice cold beer, seemingly out of nowhere. The captain's office was dark and locked… so, everything was fine.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Beckett replied casually.

"Bro, they even found the murder weapon sitting pretty in his tool box. We got trace evidence too. This case is slam dunk!" Esposito extended his hand and Ryan fed the birds.

"He must've thought he wiped the car pretty clean… He clearly underestimated us."

"Well, it is consistent with his behavior. He _is _arrogant. Kind of an ironic proof, isn't it?" Castle spoke to himself but the others nodded as well. "Can we prove that he killed Megan as well?"

"Yeah, they found the shirt he was wearing during his wife's murder. The fibers under Megan's nails are from the same shirt and they bear his wife's DNA."

"We'll still never know why he did it though," Castle sighed wistfully.

"Isn't that obvious? Wife cheats husband with another guy. Abusive husband finds out and kills wife. Gets rid of wife's body. Doesn't get time to take care of the other body because the boys call 911." Ryan shrugged.

"Yeah but why kill his daughter?" Castle knew that both the wife and the daughter were victims. He knew he should've felt equally sorry for both and while he was sorry for Melanie, he couldn't help feeling heartbroken for the young girl. The poor girl did nothing to deserve death.

"Some twisted quest for revenge?"

Castle nodded broodingly, "Or maybe she witnessed her mother's murder. The family was certainly non-functional. Matt, Melanie and Megan were three isolated individuals with broken bridges between them. Still… I don't get how he could kill her in cold blood."

"He is a psychopath, Castle. Remember what Gary said? He used to beat up his wife."

"The bastard needs to learn how to treat women," he spat.

"There's no need of that for him anymore. He won't be near another woman for the rest of his life in prison." Esposito commented with his mouth full. He whipped his head to glare at Ryan when the latter snorted at his apparent lack of manners. "What? I'm hungry."

Kate wasn't paying attention to the boys. Something in Castle's voice made Kate proud. She knew that it was ridiculous… but she couldn't help it. Four years ago, she wouldn't have believed it but Rick Castle was a gentleman. He was her gentleman now. Now that the case was over and her mind was idle, the realization struck her with full force… Rick Castle, the bestselling novelist, her favorite author, was her man now. She knew what he was like, inside out. She knew the playboy Castle who hogged publicity at his publisher's insistence. She knew the annoying nine year old on a sugar rush. She knew the rich jerk who didn't hesitate to flaunt his connections to get what he wanted. But she also knew the insecure author who hid from the public eye on the days of his book release. She had seen the doting father, the caring son, the loyal friend… the noble man who was her partner, who always had her back, who was always there for her. He had saved her… in ways he would never know. She had seen so many facets of this man's personality that it fascinated her.

"Beckett, you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Tired." She mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, me too," Castle mumbled in agreement. Kate couldn't help but cringe. Did he really have to shove his foot down his throat? Not that Kate was trying to sweep their nascent relationship under the rug but she wasn't in the mood to endure her overzealous, nosey, almost-brothers.

The two detectives regarded Beckett and Castle with calculative eyes. They were not detectives for nothing. "Dude, do you get the feeling that they are hiding something?" Esposito asked Ryan in a stage whisper.

"Totally." Ryan nodded.

They picked up the easier target of the two. "Castle, what's going on?"

"What? What did I do?" Castle immediately went on the defensive. He didn't want to piss off his… girlfriend. Wow, the extraordinary Kate Beckett was now his girlfriend. When he thought about it, the word "girlfriend" didn't really do Kate any justice. She was a lady, an extraordinary woman… She was more than that. She was more than a muse. She could make his heart ache by the sheer beauty of her smile. She could undo him with her deep, hazel eyes. She was so simple yet so complicated. She was truly a mystery that he would never be able to solve… but he would still spend the rest of his life trying to do just that.

"This!" Ryan proclaimed, "You guys are spacing out… at the same time… and you have this dreamy look on your face."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Do you realize how ridiculous you sound, Ryan?"

"Why would we have dreamy looks on our faces while you're the one getting married?" Castle countered.

"Yeah bro, Castle has a point," Esposito smirked, "you're the one getting married."

"Dude, don't fall for that. They're changing the subject," Ryan whined.

"Okay guys, I'm outta here," Kate stood up. "And if you're not, you're welcome to finish the paperwork." She pointed her finger at Ryan and Esposito.

That seemed to have a magical effect as Ryan and Esposito sprang up on their feet. "No, actually I've somewhere to go… In fact, I'm already late," Esposito mumbled before hurrying out of the room.

"Nice strategy, Beckett," Ryan muttered.

Beckett chuckled and exited the break room, leaving Castle and Ryan alone. Ryan was debating whether he should grill Castle further when the writer spoke up, "Detective, unless you want to lose a chunk of your money to the pool right before your wedding, I suggest you don't explore this avenue anymore." He winked at the detective before leaving the room.

Ryan stood there all alone, opening and closing his mouth comically. He looked like a fish out of water, gasping for air. What did Castle just say? Did he say Ryan was about to lose money in the office pool? But that would mean… Did Castle mean they had got together? At last? Finally! His hands automatically reached for his phone to gush to his partner. Just as he was about to hit the 'call' button, he stopped. Wait, Castle was right; he would lose money just before his wedding… The pool had been going on for so many years now that losing would mean empty pockets. On the other hand, if he waited for a few more months before disclosing, or at least until the couple decided to disclose the news, he would recover at least a part of his honeymoon expenses.

He wanted to… no, needed to… tell someone about the new piece of information. But he also needed the money. He wondered if he should flip a coin to decide whether to break the news.

Damn, life was cruel!

(…..)

"You should've seen his face, Kate."

Beckett shot him a glance while trying to concentrate on the road. Castle looked like a kid delighted at a new cartoon show. She badly wanted to twist his ears but she didn't. Her idiot was having too much fun, why spoil it? Besides, it's not like he had leaked nuclear secrets to the Nazis. However, she suppressed the grin that was threatening to break out on her face. "Castle, if the word gets out, I'll kill you… and Ryan."

"I'm sure Jenny wouldn't appreciate that."

Kate narrowed her eyes. Castle held up his hands, "Okay, okay. Gee, you're boring." He pouted.

"Really? You didn't seem to think so the other night." She didn't need to look at him to know he did a double take right then.

"Yeah, those were good times," Castle pretended to sigh dreamily.

"What are you, Castle? A fifteen year old girl?"

"You didn't seem to doubt my masculinity the other night."

_Touché, _she conceded mentally but there was no way she would acknowledge that out loud. They fell into a companionable silence.

"Have dinner with us." His voice was so quiet that at first she wasn't sure if she had heard it right. The expectant look in his eyes confirmed it.

Kate felt nervous. It wasn't like she didn't have dinner with Castle's family before. She did, plenty of times. But this was different. All the previous times, she was there as a friend. This was different. She was now Castle's… whatever… she was now more than a friend, she knew that much. Their status had changed. Would Castle tell Alexis and Martha about the news? Had he told them already? How would they receive her? Alexis was quite unpleased with her the last time they had talked in front of the bank… Granted that their last meeting hadn't been under pleasant circumstances, still…

Kate Beckett was a fearless detective but when it came to relationships, she could be a nervous wreck. It was true that she wasn't a wreck with Tom or Josh but that was because she hadn't been serious about those relationships. She knew deep inside her that they weren't her "one and done." But she firmly believed that Castle was the one. She was dead serious in her relationship with him. She didn't deny herself the pleasure of their relationship for four years only to see it go up in smoke.

Alexis mattered to Castle, so what the teenager thought about Kate mattered to her as well. Was she ready for that showdown tonight? Oddly enough, meeting Alexis felt like meeting the parents. She was numb in anticipation.

Castle was still waiting for an answer. "Kate, don't overthink it. Just say yes."

"I'm not overthinking, Castle. It's just that…" Kate trailed off. How could she tell him about her insecurities without sounding like a fool?

"It's just that now that our relationship has changed, you're not sure how they'll receive you." He read her thoughts out loud, like an open book. _Damn him!_

"Yes," she replied quietly.

"We don't need to tell them tonight. We can wait until you're ready."

"No, it's fine. I… I just don't know how Alexis will react…"

Castle smiled, "I know my daughter had not been on her best behavior the last time the two of you spoke but trust me, she admires you. A lot. You are the female role model she never had in her life. She will be more than fine to have you in the family… Besides, it's just dinner. I told you, we tell them only when you're ready."

Kate chewed on her lower lip for a few moments before she smiled. "I won't make you hide us from your family, Rick. I'm ready."

She was rewarded with a dazzling smile. "Are you sure, Kate?"

She nodded.

She had not lied. She had indeed made up her mind. Their relationship was not a chore, it wasn't an experiment. It was an entity, living and breathing. Like every living being, it had evolved. It had developed. Now, there was only one way in which the relationship could move healthily- forward. She wouldn't impede the flow. She wouldn't be stubborn. She would try to be like Castle. She would enjoy what each day had to offer. She wouldn't think too hard about "what ifs." It was time to let overcautious Kate go. Castle had been trying to break down her walls with bare hands for years… Maybe it was time to hand him a hammer and a chisel. Yes, she could easily do that much.

Tonight was the night to be… "in the family", as Castle had put it. She wouldn't remain isolated anymore. It was time to make new bridges. She was ready. They were ready.

"Let's go."

_**A/N: Aaand… The End.**_

_**Yesterday, I was reading my previous stories (I swear, I'm not narcissistic!) but somehow from "Ghost from Past" to "Broken Bridges", it seems to be a series of sorts, in reverse order! In the first, Caskett were married, in the next ("A Distorted Reflection"), they were an established couple. In this story, they get into a relationship. If someone reads this first, then "A Distorted Reflection" and lastly "Ghost from Past", the stories appear like Caskett series :/ Okay, now it sounds like I'm reviewing my own work, so I'll stop… :) All I want to say is, if you're wondering if Kate and Alexis ultimately gets along in my "Castle" world, read the other two stories and you'll know :P**_

_**Imhereforthestory, I'm sorry friend, I couldn't fit in your suggestion in this story. I'm really really sorry. I tried. But the scene just wouldn't co-operate with me. Hope you've enjoyed the last chapter.**_

_**Gloriajv, as always, you're great. You've always been transparent in your opinion about different relationships in my stories, so when you said you loved Castle-Alexis interactions, I did a happy dance. Also, it's always nice to hear from you.**_

_**Tiff098765 totally called it. She told me in her review a couple of chapters ago that she thought that Matt was the killer. I didn't reply then because… well, that would be a spoiler :P**_

_**Crazy4castle, your review made me smile; particularly the "light bulb" moment comment. I was left with an odd image of Castle with a shining light bulb over his head (like they show in cartoons), throughout the day.**_

_**Tfnmal23, I'm glad that you enjoyed the story. Please try to make some time and write… I love to read new stories. I understand that you're busy… Still… I'll keep my eyes open, in case you decide to write.**_

_**Deb838, thank you for your first ever review on my story! You're wonderful.**_

_**Sophiadelancy, I know you're not having the finest time right now but hope you'll read it when you get time. I just want to thank you, for being my friend. Hope everything will be fine soon :)**_

_**Thanks to everyone who has read the story and encouraged me on facebook and twitter. On a separate note, my first ever Castle fanfiction "Decisions" crossed 30K+ hits today. It is, by no means, one of my better works. So, I wanted to thank you for being supportive.**_

_**MERRY CHRISTMAS! To those who don't celebrate Christmas, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! And yes, wish you all A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!**_

_**See you in 2012.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. This is my way of paying tribute to Andrew Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller and the team and the actors, specially Stana Katic. **_


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